Wildfire
by arisusa06
Summary: My version of the Jax and Tara love story, before the Anarchy ...
1. Chapter 1

**(Just for the record, I do not own these characters)**

**CHAPTER ONE**

She put in the combination without even thinking about numbers. Her mind was somewhere else again. Sometimes she drifted through entire days without remembering what she'd accomplished or how she got from Point A to Point B. Sixteen years old was supposed to be the time of her life and here she often spent it in a daze, actually looking forward to going to class just to fill the endless void that was the rest of her life. She didn't have any really good friends and was much too shy to have any sort of boyfriend. She didn't have a car yet, not that she'd have anywhere to go anyways. Hell, she didn't even have a mother at home to talk to about her problems. Loneliness was a good friend of hers and shutting everything out was her specialty.

Tara tucked a stray strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear and started switching out her Science textbooks for her English ones. She wasn't exactly anticipating her next class but when you've got straight A's and a 4.0, it's not exactly like it was hard either. It was just the standard 10th grade English. She'd actually tested out of it, but the guidance counselor had recommended she take it anyway to help prep her for the AP English class she was bound to be put in later. It was kind of nice to have a class where she could let her mind wander and still manage to ace the course.

She grabbed her purple notebook labeled "English" and took a quick look in the little magnetic mirror on her locker door. Her hair was flat and the little bit of makeup she had on seemed to be wearing off. She really didn't know why she bothered half the time. She was about to mutter a complaint when something else caught her eye.

About twenty feet down the hallway, partially hidden behind his own locker, Jackson Teller was staring at her. Tara quickly darted her eyes back inside her locker and felt her breath catch in her throat. She must have been mistaken. There was no way Jackson Teller would have been looking her way. She could feel her heart start pounding in her chest. He was one of the hottest guys in her grade, if not the whole school. He was also one of the biggest bad boys. So there was no reason he'd be looking at straight laced little Tara Knowles. There must have been someone else behind her, one of the more popular, pretty girls. Tara took a quick peek back down the hallway again but he was gone. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Stupid girl…"she muttered and slammed the door shut.

She walked to English with her head down, as usual, only peeking up through her hair to check the room numbers and to make sure she wasn't about to run into anyone. By the time she reached her classroom her heartbeat had almost settled back to normal but one tentative look through the door and it spiked again. It was almost two months into the school year, how had she never noticed Jackson Teller was in her English class?! But there he was, sitting in the back of the class with his best friend, Opie Winston. Laughing at something Opie must have said, his eyes briefly scanned the room before meeting and locking on her own, twinkling with mischief and as blue as those postcards you see of the ocean surrounding some exotic island. They were beautiful. Tara was frozen and drowning in them before another student's voice snapped her back to reality. Immediately flustered and embarrassed, her eyes shot back to the ground and she quickly crossed the room and fumbled into her usual seat in the front.

_'__Stupid, stupid girl!'_ she thought. It took everything she had not to slam her head into the desk. It was going to be a really long day.

The rest of the school day was uneventful, thank God….That mornings little encounter had tormented her the rest of the afternoon. All Tara wanted to do was go home and bury her head in a pillow. Luckily, she'd just finished 8th hour so that was exactly what she planned to do. Her father wouldn't be home for a few hours yet so she'd at least have a little bit of time to herself before she had to clean the house and make a dinner that he probably wouldn't eat anyway, opting for his whiskey and cigarettes instead. Whatever, she didn't care. She just used the leftovers for her lunches the next day anyway. She threw the rest of her homework in her black canvas bookbag, shut her locker and headed toward the front entryway.

The California sky was bright and somewhat blinding as she got out the doors. It took her eyes a moment to adjust before she started down the steps. It was early October so the heat was starting to fade away into the slightly cooler fall temperatures but Tara loved it. Say what you will about the podunk little town of Charming, but the weather was always rather beautiful. She hooked her thumbs into the straps of her backpack as she walked, watching the sunlight dance across the pavement as it filtered through the trees; how it twisted and bent, flickered between light and shadow, drawing her into a trance. It wasn't long before her thoughts crept back to English class and Jackson Teller's eyes.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen them. She'd known Jackson more or less her entire life. Mostly less. They may have grown up together but their paths didn't cross much. She knew his family was a part of the Sons of Anarchy, a local motorcycle gang that had a very questionable reputation. His father had died in an horrible accident a little while ago and her heart had broken for him because she knew what it was like to lose a parent although not quite so publically. She had always been too shy to try and reach out to him, even when she saw how he struggled with it. Besides, she didn't know that he'd want her sympathy. She could tell how hard it hit him just as well as she could see how hard he was trying to hide it. She knew the signs. Tara had always thought about how nice it would be to have someone she could relate to but she wasn't so sure that Jackson Teller was interested in that.

Truth be told, they really didn't seem to have much in common. He was outgoing and confident. She was quiet and a loner. She was top of the class. He was on the verge of failing out. He seemed like he was still so full of life and she just felt like a hollow shell after losing her mother. But he was handsome… He didn't dress especially well, usually in jeans and some kind of t-shirt, and he wore his sandy blonde hair long, which was usually greasy because he was constantly running his fingers through it, kind of a Kurt Cobain feel to it except not quite so grungy. But his face…. Oh, his face…his eyes were so blue she could barely stand to look in them. Moments like this morning were not all that rare when they caught each others eye. She knew she wasn't the only one. All the girls whispered about Jackson Teller's eyes. And his smile was so perfect that it could have been used in a dental commercial. There was just something about him that was open and honest, yet mysterious and dangerous. All the girls wanted Jackson Teller, even if they'd never be caught dead with him because of his reputation. She was a fool for thinking about him the way she was. He would never be interested in a girl like her…but as her hazel eyes focused in and out on the intricate patterns and dancing shadows, she thought that it never really hurt anything to dream a little.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Sixteen was the freest he'd ever been. He'd known how to ride a motorcycle since he was eight years old but to finally be old enough to have his license and legally tear down the highway was like a weight lifted off his shoulders. He loved the wind in his hair, the tug of his clothes against his skin at 70mph, the sultry looks he got from all the girls as he rode by, and the evil glares he got from their boyfriends …or husbands… HA! He loved every minute of it. Riding was his joy, his therapy, it was everything. When he got just a little bit older, he and Opie would patch into the Sons and everything would be complete.

School was a drag but he did enough to get by. Today was one of those days where he'd been trying his damnedest just to stay awake. He'd had a late night doing some random stuff at the garage for the club. The only little highlight of his day was how surprisingly flustered Tara Knowles had gotten when he'd briefly caught her eye before one of their classes. They'd known each other forever but he'd never really paid all that much attention to her. Although over the last month and half of sitting behind her in English he'd started to notice her more and more. The way her hair was always falling in her face or how she always cocked her head to the right when she was thinking, how smart she was. Not that she'd ever noticed he was watching. He sat a ways behind her and she always had her face buried in a book or staring at the ground. In fact, Jax wasn't sure that he'd ever really seen her eyes until this morning. It had only been a glimpse but now that he had, they were haunting him.

Flitting somewhere between green and brown, her hazel eyes reminded him of the shady spot outside of town where he often went to write in his journal. But they were also cat-like and guarded. Jax Teller had never been a hunter but this was one trail that he might not mind tracking….Jax had never lacked for female attention. He'd seen a lot of attractive women and they had never been shy about telling him what they thought about him, but there was something about the enigmatic Tara Knowles that he couldn't get out of his head. He never usually had a problem seeing right through girls to what type of person they were or what they wanted. But Tara was a mystery to him. He'd known her his entire life but he suddenly realized he knew absolutely nothing about her. He was going to have to change that.

Jax down shifted his bike as he turned into the Teller-Morrow parking lot and smiled as he saw all the bikes lined up outside the shop. This might be work but this was also home.

The sun was just starting to go down as he finished up his fifth oil change. The shit was so boring but it was better than being some grocery store stock boy lining up cans of soup every day. Grabbing a rag off the toolbox he wiped the grease off his hands and used his forearm to clear the sweat from his brow. It was always hot in the garage even when the doors were open. He'd take his shirt off sometimes but that was usually during the middle of the day when there weren't too many people about. Anytime in the afternoon, the crow eaters started wandering in and even though he was never shy about female attention, some of them were older than his mom. Besides, the guys in the club didn't seem too fond of having to compete with a sixteen year old kid and his mom didn't seem too fond of having a bunch of whores eyeing up her teenage son. It was just easier to leave the shirt on.

Still twisting the dirty rag in his hands, Jax leaned up against the garage frame and watched the colors of the sunset seep across the sky. He could hear the voices from the clubhouse get louder knew the members had probably started drinking over an hour ago. They'd get lit up tonight. The fuck if they cared it was Thursday. Once in awhile he'd finish up his work and join them. His stepdad was president of the club so he let him and Opie get away with it from time to time. But tonight wasn't one of those nights. Tonight was one of those nights he might go for a long ride in the country. He had a full tank of gas and a lot on his mind. He couldn't get Tara out of his head. The way her eyes seemed to look right through him and into his soul. She had him spinning. Normally he'd just sidle on up with a smile and make his move but there was something different about her. He just didn't know how to approach this one. She didn't seem like any of the other girls he'd met before and he didn't know if his typical charms would work on a girl like her. What he wouldn't give to be able to talk to his father for awhile.

Thinking of his father snapped him back to reality. He let out a heavy sigh and tossed the grease rag back on the toolbox and went to wash his hands. Jax was tough, he was a badass, he did what he wanted when he wanted and did it with a smile on his face. But sometimes his sensitive side, the side he tried to keep buried and pretend didn't exist, reared its ugly head and weighed him down. He missed his dad. His mom was great and all, despite being incredibly overbearing, but sometimes a kid just needs their dad. And he'd known Clay his whole life, hell, he was his dad's best friend (which was a little awkward when he married his mom) but Clay was a much different man than John Teller. He would listen to Jax and give him advice that really seemed to speak to him. He believed in working hard and freedom and learning from others so you wouldn't always have to learn the hard way. He was far from a perfect father but he seemed to know Jax better than he knew himself some days. He only wished he'd appreciated it more at the time.

Shutting off the sink, Jax dried his hands and reached for his backpack. It should have been heavier than it was but he hadn't felt much like doing his homework tonight. He slung the underweight bag over his right shoulder and strolled out into the open air.

It was definitely a night for a long ride.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Tara hadn't slept too well last night. Her father had been getting a lot more edgy now that his job was in jeopardy. Apparently she wasn't the only one who always noticed the alcohol on his breath. She snuck away to her bedroom early in the night feigning homework obligations, which was a lie but it was better than having to fake interest in his problems that were all his own fault anyway. He'd spent the better part of the night slamming drawers and yelling at the TV. Somewhere around midnight she shot up in her bed to the sound of glass breaking. It wasn't new but it always startled her. She'd gone back to sleep knowing she'd have something or another to clean up in the morning.

Tara looked in the bathroom mirror at the forlorn face in front of her. Why was it so hard to be happy? Losing a parent is hard but it had been years and there was so much more to life. She'd never forget her mother but she just….she just wanted to be happy. Looking back at her reflection, she saw her mother, right down to her rounded chin. Tara could still see the smile on her mom's face. She was always smiling and always telling Tara to smile more. Feeling a bit nostalgic, Tara pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail, the way her mother always had done for her, leaving a few of her bangs out to frame her face. She'd never perfected the art like her mom but it made her smile nonetheless. _Maybe happiness is something you make for yourself_, she thought_, maybe it's just the little things_.

Taking that thought to heart, she glanced at the clock and noticed she still had plenty of time before she had to leave for school. Tara ran back to her room and slid out of her worn-in jeans and pulled a pair of cutoff shorts out of her dresser. It might be October but it was still California and maybe she needed to change up her wardrobe a bit to feel better. Looking at the full length mirror against her wall, she analyzed her outfit. Little white tank top underneath a blue flannel shirt, now in her cutoffs, and her black and white Chucks, with her hair up in a pony and just a touch of makeup, she actually felt…pretty. A Cheshire cat grin spread across her face as she gathered up her backpack and headed out the door.

The crisp air was refreshing against her skin. It was only a short walk to school, maybe six or seven blocks and she enjoyed watching the sun come up over the trees in the morning. Despite the tiresome night she'd had, she was feeling lighter than she had in quite possibly months. The birds were singing, she saw the younger schoolchildren walking with their parents, heard the leaves rustling in the trees. Today just seemed like it was going to be a good day; bringing another large grin to her face. She turned onto the road that lead up to the high school, hooking her thumbs on the straps of her backpack and looked at the ground. _No!_ she thought, _not today! Today you're going to keep your chin up!_ She forced herself to look back up, something that was strangely hard to do, to look at people when it was so much easier to analyze the pavement but she had to do it. Today was going to be a good day and was not going to spend it looking at the same boring old concrete.

She heard them long before she saw them. Harleys. Charming was a small town and there were only two boys that rode motorcycles to school. Tara was just crossing the parking lot when Jackson and Opie pulled in. They rode right past her, putting their two bikes in one stall ahead of her. She was having a very hard time not looking down, but she told herself she couldn't, not even for Jackson Teller. He must not have realized who she was when he'd ridden past her because as she was walking past him, she glanced over and saw his head jerk up and follow her past. Her eyes immediately broke away and looked ahead of her, not down, but definitely away. Again, her heart started racing in her chest. She took a deep ragged breath and wondered if every girl was so quickly affected by him the way she was and suddenly wished she had chosen to wear her jeans.

...

_Keep your eyes up. Keep your eyes up. Keep your eyes up._ If Tara wanted to pursue this view above the floor thing, she got the feeling she was going to have to utter this mantra all day. She was only headed to fourth hour and she was ready to call it a day. She made it to her locker somehow, although she could still feel the anxiety in her chest. What had she been thinking wearing Daisy Dukes? She never wears shorts to school. She felt so exposed. And looking people in the eyes? Well…looking up anyway. This all seemed a lot easier on the walk to school. Blindly entering the combination for her locker, she opened the door and started swapping out her books again. Math for Science, grab the green notebook…Suddenly, a girl screamed in laughter in the background, startling her and everything in her hands fell to the floor. The little piece of self motivated happiness was starting to slip from her grasp. Tara let out a heavy sigh and bent down to start picking up her scattered mess of books.

"Here, let me help you with those," a soft voice said.

"Thank you," Tara started as she pushed the locker door further open," I really appreciate the…."

But her words were cut short when she looked up and found herself staring into a pair of stunning blue eyes she didn't know if she would ever get used to…. "help."

Jackson smiled at her, his gaze meeting her eyes. For a minute it was as if the whole world stopped. Crouched down in a crowded hallway, she couldn't see anything but his face. The way his golden hair was tucked behind his ears or his smile reached all the way to his eyes and made them shine. She couldn't have said what was going through her mind, only that she was frozen in that moment.

"Those are some pretty big books," he laughed.

"Um, yeah, yeah they are," Tara blinked and shook her head. She was able to compose herself enough to smile and look up at him again. "Thank you again. For...the help."

He met her eyes and they stared at each other for another moment that seemed to stretch an eternity. She could feel herself getting lost in them when he smiled at her and said, "Of course."

They both stood up quickly and she shut her locker. Jackson started to walk down the hallway when he looked back over his shoulder with a quick smile and said, "I'll see you next hour."

Her voice caught in her throat but she managed to utter out, "Yeah, you too."

He smiled again before turning back around and walking away. With no one around she allowed herself a deep breath and an exasperated look around. _What just happened?_ She looked down the hallway to where he'd disappeared and shook her head. She had to pull herself together before she was…..

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!_

"Shit!" Tara yelled as she ran down the hallway.

...

_Science for English, grab the purple notebook_… Tara let out a sigh. She hadn't been able to focus AT ALL in her science class. Jackson's face had been all she could think of …. But she guessed that meant she might actually have something to study for when she went home tonight. It might be a pleasant change from staring at her wall and waiting for her dad to pass out. Shutting her locker door, she headed down the hallway. _Head up. Head up. Head up. _It was amazing how such a simple thing took so much effort. She passed other students in the hallway, some of which she didn't even recognize. _Just how long have I been staring at the ground?_ She rounded the corner and headed into room 209. And just like that, there he was…again.

Tara walked into the room trying to feel confident even though that was the last thing she felt like. She hadn't made it two steps when Jackson smiled at her from his desk in the back with a subtle upward nod of his head and mouthing the word, '_hey_.' She smiled back, feeling the blush creep up in her cheeks. She clutched her books to her chest a bit tighter and crossed the room. The classroom chatter went on for another few minutes before the bell rang and the teacher strolled over to shut the door.

"Good morning class. Today we're going to start getting into our next paper. Minimum of three pages long, this is going to be worth 15% of your grade and you will be doing it with a partner. The goal of the project is to write a paper in the first person but it will be based on one of the most influential experiences of someone else's life. Good or bad. Now because you're all teenagers and I want to keep it honest, we will be choosing the partners randomly. Ideally, you will be partnered with someone you aren't close with and you can learn something new about one of your classmates."

There was a collective groan from her classmates and although Tara felt the same way she kept it to herself. She didn't know much about any of her classmates so it wouldn't really matter much who she was partnered with. The class was to start counting til the reached twelve and then start over at one until they reached twelve again (there were 24 students in the class). When it was her turn she said, "Six." And the counting continued on down the rows. About the time someone said 'ten,' she heard some whispers and shuffling behind her. She didn't pay it much mind though and kept looking at the poster of a chimpanzee with a pencil behind his ear. The numbers restarted again at one. She'd never paid much attention to who sat where in the class so when they reached 'four,' she started to turn in her seat. She hadn't quite caught up with where the counting was coming from when she heard, "Six," in an all too familiar male voice. Her body jerked around to find Jackson Teller in a seat that he wasn't in five minutes ago.

The surprise must have been written across her face because he just smiled mischievously and shrugged. _Had he actually switched seats to be her partner? Why would he do that? _She cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled. _What was he up to? _

"Alright everyone," the teacher announced, "why don't you all meet up with your partners and discuss how you want to handle your papers."

Jackson got up and swaggered to the front of the room.

"Is this seat taken?"

"No," Tara answered with a smirk, "it's all yours."

He sat down to her left and smiled at her, "So how do you want to do this?"

"Well," she started, still not believing this was happening," Mr. Wallace said it was supposed to be about the most influential times in our lives. So I guess we should probably decide what those are."

His smile faded as he asked, "So who decides the moment? Do I tell you which one it was or do I give you a couple choices and you pick?"

Tara hadn't really thought of that but she supposed that was kind of important. "Why don't I ask Mr. Wallace…"

"No," Jackson interrupted her, "no it's fine. Why don't we do whatever you think is best."

"I dunno…I guess it depends on if you want a happy paper or a sad paper."

He gave her a quizzical look.

She realized he didn't know. "Well, I don't really have a ton of happy influential moments," she confessed.

"Oh." His eyebrows furrowed a bit as he tried to think of something to say. "Well what would you prefer? Happy or sad? I'll do whatever you do. How about that?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" He smiled casually at her. "Truth or dare? Happy or sad? You name it."

She could feel the light fade out of her eyes . She knew she shouldn't but, "Truth. Sad." She'd never been much of a liar.

He nodded solemnly, "Ok, well why don't you start and I'll try to pick something around the same caliber."

"Hey, Jackson…"

"Jax," he smiled again. "Just call me Jax."

"Jax," she said with a small smile, "I don't want to make this paper any harder or more depressing for you than it has to be, but there have only ever been two real influences on my life and I don't know that you're going to want to go there. I mean, maybe, not that I encourage this or anything, but maybe we should just make something up."

"Tara," he said with a half hearted laugh," I've been to some pretty dark places. I don't know that anything you tell me could possibly be worse. Tell you what, how about we meet up outside of school to talk about it. Sounds like it could be pretty deep and I'm sure you're not going to want to have to talk about it here in class."

She nodded and smiled, thinking about the way her name sounded on his lips. He was right though. The teacher would wind up reading the papers but that didn't mean she had to tell the whole class about her personal trials. Gossip was like wildfire in high schools and she would really rather prefer if she wasn't the forest getting burnt to the ground.

"Attention class!" Mr. Wallace announced, "Now that you've had a few minutes to talk, I'd like you to return to your seats so we can go over the rest of the guidelines."

Jax eased out of the desk, winked at Tara and said, "I'll talk to you later."

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks again as he walked away. She didn't know what was going on anymore but for once she really didn't care.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Friday afternoons always dragged by. The last two hours and seemed like an eternity. Jax thrummed his fingers on the desk and stared at the clock_. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok_. He started leaning out of his seat. Only another couple of seconds and…..

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!_

The students flew out of the out of their desks like bees from a hive. Jax was no different. He was obligated to working a few hours at the garage this afternoon and maybe run some errands for his mom but after that the weekend was his. He'd debated on asking Opie if he wanted to get blitzed tonight but after he'd seen him duck out of class earlier in the day, Jax figured he'd probably already done that with his dad and the rest of the club last night when Jax had taken off. _Oh well, I'll give him a few hours before I hassle him_, Jax thought. He made a quick pit stop at his locker to grab his bag and practically ran to the parking lot. When he reached his bike, he threw his leg over the late model Harley and sat down on the worn-in leather seat. He'd just reached back to grab his helmet when he saw Tara Knowles filter out the front entryway.

Ever since he'd seen her this morning in the parking lot he couldn't keep his eyes off her. It was a good thing he'd worn his baggy jeans today. The way her long legs seemed to go on forever in those shorts or the way her shirt hugged her curves. That flannel wasn't hiding anything. Her hair was pulled up in just the right way and it made her jawline sharper, her eyes seemed brighter. If she had makeup on he couldn't tell. She never went out of her way to get his attention like so many other girls did. Most of the time, she seemed to be drifting around the school in her own little world, oblivious to all the noise and drama around her. He'd been trying to find ways to talk to her all day, helping her when she dropped her books (which he never did) or threatening to bust a kids jaw if he didn't switch seats with him in English so he could be her partner. She was attractive in a way he had never noticed before. She was smart. She was funny. She was beautiful. She was a mystery. And she did it all effortlessly.

He had to have her.

As she started crossing the parking lot, Jax realized he had never wanted a girl so bad in his entire life. And for the first time, he had no idea how to approach her either. Sure he could smile and make her blush. But she was so smart and so introverted that he didn't have the first clue as to what she was interested in or how to 'really' talk to her. The only thing he knew much about was motorcycles and some other not-so-legal stuff. He'd never had to "try" to get a girl before. Most of the girls that crossed his path never really had any substance, so it wasn't required. But Tara was different. Jax was always so confident with girls that the frustration and uncertainty of how to handle her was driving him crazy with desire. He didn't know much about her but he knew she wasn't the "hit and run" type. He knew that if he wanted her, he was going to have to work for her. She was the type of girl that was a package deal, a girl that didn't mess around and probably shot for the long haul. And although he didn't know if that was what he was looking for, he also knew it was too late to turn back now.

As Tara started getting closer, Jax stood up and got off his bike. He was right about to call out to her when all of a sudden Cindy McAllister was standing right in front of him.

"Hey Jax," she smiled coyly and played with her long blonde hair, "you think you could give me a ride home?"

He looked around her to see Tara glance his way and then back to the ground. He couldn't read the look on her face but this was not what he wanted.

"Uh, sorry Cindy. I'm a bit busy. I've got to go talk to somebody quick," he said without looking at her.

"That's ok… I can wait."

Now Jax did look at her. She was a very pretty girl; brown eyes, long blonde hair, clothes that were showing enough to get any guys attention. But he'd seen a thousand girls like her before. They practically sold them in stores in California. In fact, a lot of porn stores did. She wasn't what he was looking for and apparently she hadn't caught the hint. He looked back behind her and saw Tara had already passed him and was almost to the road.

"No, really Cindy. I've gotta go. Sorry…"

Without waiting to hear her protest, Jax took off across the parking lot, his bookbag slapping across his back with every step.

"Hey Tara!" he called, "Wait up!"

She had just made it to the sidewalk as she turned to see who'd said her name. He saw the surprised flick of her eyebrows when she saw him running her way and he couldn't help but think of how cute she looked standing there with the sun in her hair.

"Hey," he smiled while catching his breath from his impromptu sprint. "How was the rest of your day?"

She responded with a wide surprised smile, "It was ok. How was yours?"

God, she was beautiful.

"It went..." he laughed and started walking down the sidewalk where she'd been heading. She followed his lead and they had walked a good twenty feet or so before he came up with something else to say. "So, you have any fun plans for the weekend?"

She laughed, "No…not really."

"You gonna to go to the football game tonight?" _Football? What the fuck, Teller?_

"No. I never really know what to do at those things."

_Thank God… "_Me either."

They fell into another awkward silence. _Why was talking to this girl so difficult?_ Jax could feel the wind rustling his hair as they stepped off the pavement to cross the street. He chanced a quick look at Tara and saw the wind was playing with her hair the same way. He wondered how soft if would feel under his fingers. What he wouldn't give to reach out and touch it. The sun was still pretty high but the shadows of the trees danced across the sidewalk as they stepped under their branches.

"So what DO you do for fun, Tara?" he asked. It was the only thing coming to mind that seemed on topic.

"Ohhhh….not much. I mostly stay home and read or study. Sometimes I go for walks" She glanced over and must have seen the quizzical look on his face. "I don't really have any friends."

The corner of her lip quirked up but her eyes focused on the ground. The comment took him a bit by surprise, although thinking about it, maybe it shouldn't have. She did seem to be alone an awful lot. In fact, he wasn't really sure that he ever saw her talking to people outside of class.

"Well this town is full of losers anyway so you're probably better for it," he offered with a shy smile. Tara glanced up long enough to smile back. She didn't say anything at first but he could sense the thanks in her eyes. They walked further down the street and rounded a corner. It was a quiet neighborhood and although Jax had lived in Charming his whole life, he wasn't sure if he'd ever ventured around this area before. It was nice.

"What about you, Jax?" she said with a bold, mischievous look that made her eyes sparkle. "What do you do for fun?"

He had to laugh, "Ha! Well… nothing too crazy." _That's a lie_, he thought. "but Opie and I will party with the club members sometimes, sometimes by ourselves, haha…I like to take my motorcycle for rides in the country though. I like the fresh air and the freedom, just getting out of the city for awhile. Sometimes I'll go with Opie or my stepdad, but a lot of times by myself. You should come for a ride with me sometime."

_Holy shit, Teller! Where did that come from? _Apparently Tara was just as surprised because her eyes shot up from the ground to look at his face. He couldn't help the giant grin spreading across his face.

"Are you…?" she started. But whatever she was going to say, he saw her visibly change her mind with a slight shake of her head, "Umm, yeah, maybe." She smiled again, "That might be kinda neat. I've never ridden on a motorcycle before."

"Really? Never?" He was ready to turn and sweep her away to his ride when he remembered he'd been so anxious to talk to her that he'd left it back at the school, which reminded him he'd have to start paying more attention to where he was if he was going to get back without getting lost. "Well, I'd love to be your first," he smiled. _Oh my God, did you really just say that?! _Tara cocked an eyebrow at him with a devilish smile Jax didn't even know she had in her. "Motorcycle ride! Hahaha! I'm sorry! Wow, didn't mean to make that awkward!"

Tara just shook her head and laughed. She stopped suddenly and said, "Well this is my house."

Jax looked up at the simple single story house and wished she'd lived farther away.

"Oh. Well, cool. Hey, if you wanted to hang out sometime this weekend or talk about that paper or something, I don't have to work. Well, I mean, I gotta work for a bit tonight but after that I'm free whenever." _Oh my God, I'm fumbling like an idiot…there's no way she's…_

"Sure."

Now it was Jax's turn to be shocked, "Really?"

"Yeah, why not? I mean you were nice enough to walk me home," she smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he grinned.

Tara slid her bag off her shoulder and crouched down to the ground to open it up and dig for something. She pulled out a purple notebook and a pen. "Here," she said starting to quickly write something down, "since you seem like you're busier than I am, this is the number for my house. I'm usually home so if you want to do something just give me a call."

She ripped out the sheet of paper and stood up to hand him her number with the notebook still in hand.

Taking the paper from hand, he said, "Cool. Hey, how about I give you my number too? Just in case, ya know, you get bored or want to get a hold of me at all."

Tara smiled back at him and handed him her notebook and pen, "Sure. Why not?"

Jax had no idea what he was doing…he'd never given a girl his phone number before. He always just collected them. But this girl had his head spinning. It was like a whole new ballgame. You'd think he'd never talked to a girl before. He scrawled out his phone number on another page and signed his name with a smile, making himself look a lot braver than he felt. He put the pen on top of the notebook and started to hand it back.

One second he was holding it out to her and the next he felt her fingers brush against his….

All of a sudden there was FIRE in his veins! He could feel the blood surge through his body and electricity race across his skin! His eyes shot open wide and one look at Tara and he knew she'd felt it too. Her eyes were just as wide, eyebrows raised, jaw slightly dropped open, and in that instant of a second both of their breathing had quickened. _What was happening?_ They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, her hazel eyes and dark brown hair against her flawless porcelain skin, her chest rising and falling with every breath, it was all he could see…it took everything he had not to drop the stupid notebook and pull her into his arms, to kiss those full lips and bury his hands in her hair. He wanted her. He wanted her BAD. If he hadn't been frozen in place, he might have tried to take her right there on the front lawn. Jax could SEE it in his head, _laying her in the grass… sliding his hand under her shirt… grinding his hips between her legs… pressing his face against hers and hearing her moaning into his ear..._ Tara must have seen it too because all of a sudden she pulled her hand away, the blush was rising in her cheeks. She took a step or two back. _No, no_, he thought, _not away. Come toward me_… He felt like an animal, a tiger full of a hunger that was aching in every pore of his body. He wanted to touch her again…

"Jax," her voice was heavy and deeper than it had been a moment ago. It sounded incredibly sexy and hearing his name only heightened his desire. "I should really …uh…get going inside. I've got a ton of homework." She was fumbling through her words as she backed away and it only turned Jax on more. Her eyes were locked on his…He took a step toward her, his heart still racing. "But," she said taking another step back, "if you want to give me a call or stop by later or something, I'll be here."

"Tara…"

"I'll talk to you later, Jax…" She broke her gaze as she turned and ran to the front door.

It must have been locked though because suddenly she was fumbling for her keys. She'd left her bag by his feet. Jax reached down to grab it and slowly approached her from behind while she tried fruitlessly to fit the key into the lock with her shaking hands. He was right behind her and could hear the way her breath was quick and ragged in her throat. He dropped the bag at her feet. His heart thundered in his chest as he reached around her, putting one hand on the door frame to brace himself and another over her hand to steady it as they slowly eased the key into the lock; a simple motion that seemed to promise so much more. Her breathing caused her back to pulse up against his chest and her ponytail brush across his lips. This was the most erotic thing he'd ever experienced and all they had done was unlock a door. Jax could feel his body betraying him as his erection started pressing against the front of his jeans. He knew he had to back away. He knew this couldn't happen. Not now. Not so soon. For once in his life, Jax knew he had to wait even though everything in his body was screaming for him to take what he wanted, just like he always did. He allowed himself a moment longer to lean into her back and subtly breathe in the flowery scent of her hair before letting go of her hand and pulling himself away. He took a few steps back and Tara slowly turned around to look up at him, her chest rising and falling with each shallow breath. Leaning against the doorframe with her eyes open wide, she was suddenly everything he had ever wanted.

"I'll get a hold of you later, Tara. Ok?" His voice sounded husky to his own ears, thick with desire. Tara nodded silently. Her hazel eyes were no longer light and twinkling but dark and burning. Jax had to take another step back. He was too close to the fire, this inferno that had erupted from thin air. Another step back, his eyes never leaving hers…she reached up behind her to place her hand on the doorknob. "Let me know if you need anything," he added for no particular reason.

"Ok," she answered, her voice little more than a whisper.

Jax reached down to grab his backpack he hadn't remembered dropping, their eyes still locked together. Not knowing what else to say, he drank in one last image of the beautiful, timid girl with wide exotic eyes before turning back to the way he'd came and starting down the street. He tried to keep his eyes straight ahead but he'd only made it a short distance before turning back. It was just in time to see her long legs disappear through the doorway. His manhood ached with every step_. You're going the wrong way_, it seemed to say. Looking back ahead, he realized he was going to get his ass chewed for being gone so long. He was late for work. He was _really_ late for work. Clay was going to be PISSED. But he didn't care. Let him be pissed. It was Friday afternoon, his senses were on fire, and so far as work or his stepdad were concerned, he just didn't fucking care…He'd work late if he had to. All he knew was he had to see her again.

And soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

She was supposed to be studying. She was supposed to be thinking about her English paper. She was supposed to be making dinner or cleaning the house or doing a thousand other things but what she was actually doing. Tara lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. She'd been laying their all afternoon since Jackson Teller had walked her home and helped her unlock the door. Just thinking about his chest pressed against her, his hand over her hand, the stiffness she'd lightly felt through the back of her shorts, sent her legs into spasms of scissoring against each other to try and squelch the heat burning below her belly. _What is happening to me? _she thought. Tara had liked boys before, she'd seen guys that made her giggle and blush, but this was like a California wildfire raging under her skin, like a maelstrom of hormones flying around so fast that she couldn't see or think or figure out what was going on. She was lost, so utterly lost. And all she wanted to do was get lost in him again. The intensity had scared her at first, how powerful just one touch could be. And then he had touched her again. It had taken everything she had not to melt against him. When she'd seen Cindy McAllister talking to him after school she'd had no idea things would wind up like this. Tara had told herself this morning that today was going to be a good day. Today WAS a good day. Today was the _perfect_ day. She closed her eyes slowly and let a catlike smile creep across her face.

Everything in her head was saying this was a bad idea. She and Jax were so different from each other. She was the smart, quiet, good girl and he was the handsome rebel with ties to the local motorcycle gang. How could this possibly work? The logistics were all wrong…they were too different, it was screaming of heartbreak in a million different ways. But logistics don't play much of a factor to a sixteen year old heart. As smart as Tara was, she was finding the more reasons she thought of to walk away from whatever this was the more she still didn't care. No matter how bad of an idea it was, she still wanted to do it anyway. She knew that there might be a good chance that Jax was just looking at her as a conquest. He did seem to be much more _experienced_ then she was… but she'd been looking at his face when their fingers had touched too. She'd seen his eyes and the shocked, almost scared, look that had crossed his face. He hadn't known what was happening just like she hadn't. She could be wrong. There was so much she didn't know right now, but she knew that she had to find out.

Tara's back was starting to ache. As she rolled to her side, she glanced out the window at the beautiful sunset….

SUNSET!

"Oh my god!" Tara jumped out of bed as fast as she could, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

How could she have let the time slip by so fast? How could she have been lying in bed that long? Her father was going to be home any minute and she hadn't done anything! He might never eat her dinners but he still fully expected her to make them and for the house to be clean every day from the messes he made the night before. Her father was a drunk. Common sense and explanations never brought anything but broken glass. He was a nice man when he was sober but that was scarcely ever since her mother had died. Her mind was in a panic trying to decide whether the cleaning or dinner was more important. _Dinner! Definitely dinner_! She saw the cigarette butts and magazines strewn across the floor as she raced across the living room. It was a miracle he hadn't burnt the house down yet. There were dishes everywhere.

"Oh my god…how the hell am I going to do this," she said as she flew across the kitchen trying to clear enough of the mess to make something. _Chicken will take too long…he hates the way I make fish….BURGERS! That would be quick and easy, _she thought. She silently thanked whatever god there was above that she'd put the hamburger in the fridge the night before as she pulled in out and ripped off the cellophane. Tara pulled one of the skillets off the hooks on the wall. It was one of her better decorating ideas for moments just like this. She slammed it on the stovetop and cranked the dial for the front burner to high. Grabbing a glob of meat about the size of her fist, she started kneading and molding it into a patty. She threw it in the skillet and heard it sizzle as she started in with another chunk of meat. _What for a side? _As she finished making the second patty, she remembered there was a bag of frozen corn in the freezer. She tossed the burger in the skillet next to the first one and went to the freezer, grabbing a small pot off a hook on her way back. Turning the dial for the left front burner she cut open the bag of corn and went to dump them in the pot, but they didn't budge. _Frozen, remember?_ Letting out an exasperated sigh, she grabbed the bag and slammed it against the counter. Corn kernels flew across the kitchen floor from the cut in the beginning of the bag. Tara dumped the remaining corn into the pot, ripped open the utensil drawer to grab a spatula and set it on the counter next to the oven. The burgers were going to take a little bit to cook on the one side so Tara found a trash bag under the sink and headed back to the living room to try and clean.

Surveying the room ahead of her, she ran an anxious hand through her hair. There was no time to think about where to start though and she just reached out and started grabbing magazines and stuffing them into the bag. Cigarette butts. Empty beer cans and bottles of whiskey. Books with pages ripped out and their pages. Any other time she might try to save the books but with her dad about to come home any minute she knew they were going to have to be sacrificed for the greater good. If they didn't have the pages, the books were kind of worthless anyway. She straightened the figurines and picture frames on the end tables and set the lamp upright. When everything looked at least orderly, Tara picked up the trash bag and headed to the garage. The air was cool on her skin. She hadn't realized how warm she had gotten in her panic. _If you make it through this without pissing him off it's going to be a miracle,_ she thought. Setting the bag down in the trashcan, she set the lid in place and headed back to the kitchen.

Just inside the door, though, a picture on a shelf caught her eye. Set in a delicate glass and wooden frame, the picture sat gathering dust on its shelf. Tara momentarily forgot about the mess and the food and started walking towards the shelf. She reached up to grab the small 4x6 inch frame and wiped her hand across the glass. She knew this picture well. It had been awhile since she'd last stopped to look at it but the feeling it evoked was the same. The couple in the portrait was happy. Their eyes were squinted up in laughter and their smiles reached as wide as their faces would allow and cradled in their arms was a small sleeping child, maybe two years old, with her messy brown hair lying across her frosting spattered face. Her mother never looked more beautiful than when she was laughing. It was as if the world lit up around her. Her dark hair fell in waves and her eyes sparkled like stars in the sky. Everyone that saw her picture said Tara looked just like her but she knew she would never have that permeating light that her mother had. When she passed away Tara's world had grown dark around her. And her father, so handsome and clear eyed in the photo, was almost unrecognizable now. She brushed her fingers against the memory of what her family used to be as a teardrop splattered across the glass. She'd never even felt it fall.

"Tara, wharryu doing?"

The sudden sound of her father's husky slurred voice startled her so bad the picture frame slipped from her hands and fell to the floor. The wooden tendrils that decorated the frame cracked, the glass shattered, and the remnants of the once beautiful frame scattered across the floor. _Oh my god…oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no! _

"Tara, what wuz that? Wuz that smell?"

_The food is burning! _

"Tara wuz that your mothers frame?" he started to raise his voice, "Tara?!"

_Oh my god… _She couldn't move. She couldn't think. That was her father's favorite photo. Her mother had made that frame. It was one of the last things she had made before she died and now Tara had broken it…._oh my god, oh my god, oh my god_…. Her father had never hit her, but just might now…

"TARA!"

She jumped in her skin and turned around quickly. Her father's hair was tousled and greasy; his eyes red and glassy. "Dad, I'm s..s..sorry! I gotta get back to the kitchen. I think I'm burning dinner…"

She didn't wait for her response as she took off for the kitchen.

"TARA!" he hollered again.

She stopped in place. Her heart was pounding in her chest so loud she could hear it in her ears.

"Turn around!" She turned. "Wuz that your mothers frame?!"

"Y..ye..yes." she stuttered. "I..I'm sorry Dad! You surprised me. I didn't mean…"

The look on her father's face cut the words from her tongue. His mouth was in a firm hard line, his dark eyebrows furrowed together, and his short deliberate breaths causing his chest to rise and fall threateningly was enough to drive her fear straight to her heart. She suddenly realized that the sun was almost gone and the room had grown dark. The shadows on his face looked menacing in the twilight. Tara could smell the hamburger burning in the kitchen but she was frozen, too scared to do anything, not even as she saw her father took three large steps across the room and slapped her across the face.

"AH!" she yelped as she fell to the floor violently striking her head against the oak coffee table.

"See what you made me do?!" he hollered towering over her. "See what being clumsy gets you?!"

Tara could smell the alcohol on his breath as he yelled, even from the carpet. She leaned on her right arm, her left hand held against her face as it throbbed painfully. She could taste the blood on her tongue where she must have bitten her lip and fought the overwhelming urge to cry. Suddenly the smoke detector shrieked out from the hallway.

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!_

Her father turned towards the noise and without thinking, Tara leapt to her feet and ran for the door, mercilessly throwing it open as she cried and disappeared running into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

Jax pushed himself out from underneath his last car for the day. He'd worked an extra hour for the hour he was late and he wasn't going to stay a minute more. Everyone else was gone for the day or in the clubhouse getting lit up. Clay and some of the other Sons had left about forty-five minutes ago to take care of some "club business" and his mother was off doing whatever the hell it was she did, but that didn't stop the party. The Sons that were left behind made sure the liquor kept flowing and the crow eaters kept …well…Jax didn't give a shit. He ran to the office to grab his black Reaper sweatshirt and took off for his bike. He'd come back for the rest of his shit tomorrow. Right now, he had only one thing on his mind; the same thing that had been on his mind for the last couple of hours and had almost caused him to drop a quart of motor oil on his foot. He had to see Tara again. Now. The last four hours had done nothing to calm the firestorm under his skin.

Jax pulled his sweatshirt on, grabbed his riding gloves from his pocket and threw his leg over the seat. As he strapped his gloves on, he realized he probably should have called ahead but it was too late now. Throwing his helmet on quickly, he turned the key and listened to the motorcycle roar to life. Jax never grew tired of the sound and tonight it seemed to echo the way his own heart was feeling…loud and strong and longing for some kind of release. He kicked up the stand and headed for the front gate taking it easy, but as soon as his tires hit the blacktop, he let the engine scream as he tore off. The Teller-Morrow garage was on the southern edge of town and Tara's house was on the north eastern side. Charming wasn't very big though so it was only a few miles off. Probably wouldn't take more than five minutes to get there. Jax slowed his bike down a little. Speeding on a Harley was a lot more obvious than speeding in a car. The last thing he wanted was to get pulled over by some dumb cop and have to wait another half hour on the side of the road while the idiot tried to make an example of him. His stepdad owned the sheriff so nothing would come out of it which would make the whole thing twice as irritating.

Jax tried to stick to roads without stoplights or signs and brazenly blew through the uncontrolled intersections. He knew he had to be at least a little careful, for kids and animals and whatnot, but the less he stopped the faster he could get to where he was going. The sun was almost gone now though and twilight had kicked on the streetlights. He slowed his bike as he approached a stop sign and somewhere over the noise of the engine he thought he heard something…He turned his head to where he thought it was coming from when a pair of white legs shot across the opposite side of the street in front of him. Startled by the sudden appearance of a fleeing girl, it took him a moment to realize that what he'd heard was of the sound of the girl crying, pretty hard too. Momentarily concerned for her welfare, Jax looked again to the rapidly disappearing runner. As they passed under a streetlight, he caught a glimpse of a long dark ponytail and a blue flannel shirt. _Tara?_ It took a moment for the whole thing to process in his mind before hitting him like a thunderbolt.

"TARA!" he yelled. He slammed his bike into gear and took off after her. "TARA!"

He had lost sight of her for a moment but as his bike tore down the street he caught up with her quickly.

"TARA!" he yelled over the engine, "TARA, STOP!"

Jax passed her by about a block and quickly pulled his bike over to the side of the road by a large empty park. Tara was fast approaching as he kicked out the stand. He ripped off him helmet and threw it to the ground as ran around the bike. He was just in time to grab her by the arms as she collided into him.

"Tara!" he started.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she sobbed, but Jax could tell that she wasn't seeing him, her face streaming with tears.

"Tara, look at me! It's Jax! It's Jax! Tara, it's Jax!"

She continued to try and fight him off for a moment before he visibly saw the shift as she started coming back. Her eyes widened, glistening with tears.

"Jax..? Jackson..?" she stuttered. He could feel her arms shaking in his hands and he watched her face begin to distort as another bout of violent sobs racked her body. Jax instinctively pulled her into his arms just as he'd wanted to do all afternoon, but there was nothing sexual about this embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and he could feel her nails digging against his back even through his sweatshirt. He held her tight and stroked her hair as she cried into his shoulder, pressing his cheek against the top of her head; all of the things he'd been hoping to do earlier in the day, but this was not the circumstance he had wanted them under. As Jax felt Tara's legs start to collapse underneath her, he tightened his grip and eased them down to the grass. Not knowing what else to do, he just held her and let her cry, absentmindedly rocking her back and forth.

His eyes looked around the big empty park as he wondered silently what the fuck was going on. What could have caused a girl who was always so composed to lose her shit and run crying down the street in the dark? He waited until the worst of the crying subsided before pulling away just enough to see her face. Her eyes were closed but her breathing was still ragged, short sharp inhales and long exhales…Jax placed his hand on the side of her face and used his thumb to wipe away the latest of her tears. The simple motion must have awoken Tara from her trance as her eyes eased open to look up at him.

She took a few more short breaths before whispering, "I'm sorry."

Jax wanted to laugh at the notion of her apologizing but he just shook his head instead.

"It's ok," he said softly, still cradling her in his arms. "Are you ok?"

He could tell by the look on her face that the question did not have a simple answer.

"Um...no. Not really."

"Yeah, I didn't really think so…"

She smiled a little bit at that which made him smile a little bit in return. Jax did a quick survey of the area again. They had passed by this park on their walk earlier that day. And judging by which way Tara had been running, he made an educated guess that it was probably a good bet she had been running away from her house and that whatever had caused her pain had come from that direction. He looked back to her face. She was watching him with her beautiful hazel eyes, her hair casting a dark shadow across her face…._wait a minute_…. Jax lightly brushed her hair back away from the side of her face to reveal a large, dark bruise starting to show around her temple. He felt his eyes widen and looked at Tara with confusion and concern. But when she closed her eyes and turned her head away, he knew that right now was not the time to ask. Jax ran his hand over her hair one last time and she suddenly seemed so small in his arms.

"Hey, you wanna get outta here?"

Tara turned back to look at Jax, the darkness growing deeper and deeper around them, and without a word she nodded. Jax took his arm away from Tara's hair long enough to push up against the grass and used the momentum to pull them to their feet. Her upturned face looked so sad and lost. It called to something deep inside of him. He felt almost a primal sense of protectiveness over her. He'd only just started talking to her but whatever this was going on between them was much more than some schoolyard crush. It was quickly starting to take over his whole world. He held her a moment longer before dropping his arms and taking her by the hand.

"C'mon, let's go." Taking a few steps, Jax reached down to grab the helmet he'd thrown in his hurry. "You're gonna need this. Here," he stopped suddenly, "take my sweatshirt too," he said pulling it off. "It's starting to get cold out."

He handed it to Tara and watched her pull it over her head. It was so big that the hem was actually longer than her shorts. There was something innately sexy about seeing her standing there in his shirt.

"Bet you didn't think we'd be doing this so soon," Jax chuckled. She let out a small smile as Jax placed the helmet on her head and started strapping it in place.

"No, not really," Tara said quietly. "But it seems like it's been a day for a lot of firsts."

He could sense a bit of sarcasm in her voice but chose not to question it.

"I was hoping to take you out in the daytime so you could see more but night rides are really relaxing."

"That's ok, I don't know that I really want to see too much right now…relaxing sounds nice."

"Well, I'm all about the service, darlin'." _Oooh nice line, Teller_….She smirked at him lazily_. It was still a good line_…

Jax sat on his bike, braced it upright, and kicked up the stand. Reaching his hand out to Tara with a smile, he asked, "You ready?"

She stood there for a moment, in his oversized sweatshirt and riding helmet, maybe considering changing her mind, but a second later she reached out and took his hand. She straddled the seat behind him and he could see her legs against his, so pale beside his jeans, like porcelain in the dark. Tara wasn't the first girl that had ridden on the back of Jax's bike but when she slid her arms around his waist and felt her press her chest to his back, his heart still skipped a beat. He turned the key and felt Tara flinch as the engine roared to life. He twisted his head around and realized her face was just inches from his own. His heart pounded even harder.

"Hold on tight," he smiled.

He felt Tara rest her head against his back as shifted the bike in gear and took off down the road. Slowly at first, letting her adjust to the movement of the bike but after a few minutes he started accelerating more. She seemed to be in the mindset of 'anywhere but here' and he intended to oblige her. Jax started heading towards the outskirts of town. He had the perfect place in mind.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Tara didn't know where she was anymore. Charming may be small but in the dark it was easy to get lost. Jax had stopped the bike on the side of the road in a quiet neighborhood, letting it idle, and told her to wait there as he took off down the street. She watched him run about a block or so before slinking up a driveway. _What the hell is he doing? Is he breaking into a house?_ Tara wondered. She was slightly worried but she didn't have the emotional capacity right now to react much. So she sat there in the dark huddled in Jax's sweatshirt. Shamelessly, she balled up the white Reaper on the front in her hands buried her face in it. It smelled wonderful. She didn't know anything about colognes so she had no idea what it was, but it stirred something in her blood. It smelled like Jax. Her head was still throbbing but the smooth ride of the Harley and the cool night air was just as relaxing as he'd promised. The scent of his sweatshirt made her feel just a little bit better too although in an entirely different way.

She was broken from her reverie after a few minutes by the sound of shoes scuffing lightly on the sidewalk. It was completely dark out by now and it took her eyes a moment to focus in on the shadowy figure jogging her way. She could see Jax's blonde hair and white sneakers after a moment but he had thrown on another sweatshirt and was carrying something large on his back and under his arm that she couldn't quite figure out. She let the sweatshirt fall away from her face and smoothed it out so it wouldn't be so obvious what she'd been doing.

"Hey, still doing ok?" he whispered as he approached.

"Yeah, what is that?"

"Well, it's starting to get dark so I thought you might be getting cold and I needed a few things for where I wanted to take you. Do you think you'd be ok wearing this backpack while we ride?"

Tara cocked an eyebrow at him in curiosity, "Yeah, I think I can manage that."

"Good," he smiled at her. Even in the dark she could see the twinkle in his eyes_. Jackson Teller's eyes_, she mused to herself… Jax handed her the bag, which had a faint smelled like gym clothes underneath something like potpourri, not quite as appealing as his sweatshirt but she kept that thought to herself. Putting her arms through the straps of the bag, she looked at the bundle he had under his arm.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Uh, it's a blanket," he answered a bit sheepishly.

"Do I have to carry that?" she answered a bit surprised, wondering curiously why they needed a blanket.

"No! No," he laughed, "I can strap that to the bike."

"Ok," she smiled. She felt a bit ridiculous in his sweatshirt that was too big, biker's helmet, and now wearing his gym bag. She definitely wasn't going for fashion points on this one. Her brain also decided this was a good time to remind her of the giant bruise that must have formed on the side of her face. She didn't know for sure but Jax's reaction when he looked at her in the park assured her there was definitely something there that shouldn't be. If she'd thought about trying to look good for him earlier she had certainly failed at that now…Jax went around to the back of the bike and strapped down the rolled up blanket, which looked suspiciously like a sleeping bag.

When he'd finished, Jax looked down at Tara and asked," You ready?"

Weary from the day, her feisty side got the best of her, "It's now or never, right?"

But her words seemed to have an unintentional side effect on Jax. He smiled dangerously at her and said, "Damn straight."

He stepped over the seat with his long leg, careful not to hit Tara, kicked up the stand, and shifted the bike in gear. As he eased it off the curb, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. Jax was thin but he definitely wasn't bony. Tara could feel the muscles in his chest flex with every subtle adjustment of his bike. Maybe she should have been paying attention to where they were going but she didn't really care. After a few minutes, her body grew used to the movements of the Harley and she laid her head gently on his back. The cool air felt nice on her face but she felt so tired. It couldn't be much later than 8pm or 9pm but the excitement of the day (both good and bad) and taken a toll on her, especially because she hadn't slept so well from the night before anyway. This morning, the idea of riding on a motorcycle would have been a bit frightening and now she was on the verge of falling asleep.

As they reached the city limits, Tara heard the engine roar with every gear he shifted and the wind started tearing at their clothes. She held on tighter and watched as the lights faded away and they ventured out into the California countryside. She had no idea where they were or where they were going but it was better than home and the company was a significant improvement. Tara nuzzled into Jax's back and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the countryside the stars began to come out. Only a couple at first, but, gradually, the more she looked, the more she saw. Suddenly, they were everywhere! There were millions of them! Billions even! Tara didn't know if she'd ever seen so many stars in her entire life. They were beautiful, like someone had taken a bucket of silver glitter and thrown it across a purple and black sky. Swirling in patterns and making shapes, she even recognized a constellation or two. Driving across the desert going 65mph on the back of Jackson Teller's motorcycle, this day had gone from wonderful to tragic to beautiful again, and no matter what happened, Tara knew there was a small piece of her that would always love him for this.

After about ten minutes, Jax downshifted and turned down a dirt road. He went a lot slower here and after only another minute or two, he eased the bike off the road and down a small embankment before walking the bike to a stop.

Cutting the engine, Jax announced, "We're here."

Tara let herself savor the feeling of Jax's back below her head for just another moment before sliding her hands back away from his chest and pulling herself upright. She looked around to where 'here' was. They were in the middle of nowhere with a few sparse trees and a large rock formation, but there was something pleasant about it. Jax hopped off his bike and started to help Tara remove his helmet.

"This is one of my favorite spots. I like to come out here when I need to think."

"Yeah, it's definitely well suited for that," she said honestly.

He pulled the helmet from her head and she knew instantly that her hair was probably a disaster. She sighed inwardly. Jax must have sensed her disheartened feelings because after setting down the helmet, he lightly lifted her face so she was looking in his. He didn't say anything right away, just watched her with very serious eyes. Tara didn't know how to take it and started to squirm under his gaze when he finally said, "You know you're beautiful, don't you?"

She was completely taken aback. The shock must have been written across her face because he held her chin in place and said, "I'm serious."

Tara laughed nervously, "I'm sure you say that to all the girls."

"No," he answered, letting go of her face but holding his stare, "I don't."

He turned and walked away, leaving Tara suddenly feeling flattered and embarrassed. She awkwardly pulled herself up off the bike and set his backpack on the ground next to it. She wasn't sure what he had in there but it was packed to the brim and kind of heavy. Jax was moving around the area, bending over every so often collecting… _sticks? Well, don't be a weirdo, _she scolded herself_, go help him…_

"Hey," she called out. "Do you want some help?"

Jax straightened up in the dark about twentyfeet away from her, "Sure."

She walked over to him feeling rather exposed in the open area. His sweatshirt was longer than her shorts. You couldn't even see them; she might as well have not even been wearing them, at least that's what it felt like. Tara reached up to pull the elastic band out of her hair. Her ponytail was long beyond shot. She knew if she wanted to have any semblance of feeling attractive for Jax Teller she was going to have to work with her hair being down. He just stood there watching her walk towards him without saying a word. Less than an hour ago she'd been bawling her eyes out cradled in his arms and now everything seemed to have ventured back to that awkward tension they had felt earlier in the day. The closer she got, the more she felt her throat start to tighten up. _He's just a guy. He's just a guy. He's just a guy. He's just a really hot guy that just called you beautiful…oh my god_…Tara had little to no experience with guys. She didn't know how to flirt or be sexy and here she was out in the middle of the desert with one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen and he was just staring at her. She could feel the bugs crawling beneath her skin. She knew what she wanted; she just didn't know how to get there. She had no idea what she was doing.

Crossing that gap of space with him watching her made it feel like an eternity.

"Hey," she whispered again.

"Hey," he responded. "I was gonna start a fire, if that sounds cool with you? Would you want to keep gathering some sticks while I try to get it lit?"

"Sure," Tara replied.

Jax looked at her for another long moment before walking back towards his bike_. Is this how it's going to be all night? Awkwardly staring at each other in silence?_ Tara chided herself for the thought. She didn't quite know what was going on but she could tell he was trying to do something nice for her. And even if she didn't know why, it was still very sweet. As he started rummaging through his bookbag, emptying the contents on the ground, she went back to collecting sticks, picking some up off the ground and snapping a few loose ones here and there on the small, low hanging trees. Her mind started to wander back across her day. Choosing an outfit out of her normal repertoire, Jax not only helping her with her books, but suspiciously becoming partners with her in English, walking her home, _that touch_….Tara smiled at the memory…and then her father. Her father had never struck her before, no matter how drunk he got. She knew it had been because of the picture frame. It didn't make it right but she had anticipated his fury the instant that it happened, she just hadn't anticipated falling into the coffee table…The slap hadn't hurt that bad, she just got clumsy sometimes and fell. But it had scared her…her father was probably worried sick, if he was sober enough to remember she'd run away….and then there was Jax again to save the day. She didn't know how he'd gotten there or why he was there but he was. She'd been longing to hold him the entire afternoon but when she was finally able to she just couldn't appreciate it the way she'd wanted. She'd been hoping for romantic or maybe even kind of sexual…but instead he'd wound up being a source of solace when she was too upset to think straight. But maybe…maybe that was better. Jax had been there when she had needed someone most, inadvertently, but there none the less. She hadn't been seeing straight but she'd heard his bike and vaguely heard him yelling at her. He could have let her go but he chased her down and comforted her, coming to her rescue. He let her cry and then swept her away on his chrome and steel steed. Her dark knight with the golden hair.

Tara looked over to where she'd last seen Jax but he wasn't there. Scanning the area, she spotted him by a small fire by the mouth of a cave she hadn't noticed before. Her arms were starting to get full so she headed back his direction. As she grew closer, she saw he had laid out a blanket and his open backpack had food in it; some granola bars, a loaf of bread and what looked like a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly.

"Well, what's this Mr. Teller?" Tara teased quietly, trying to lighten the mood.

"I thought you might be cold and figured you probably hadn't eaten yet so I grabbed some stuff from my house. Sorry it's not anything fancy, I was shooting for speed. I didn't really want to run into my parents."

Tara smiled very genuinely at Jax's thoughtfulness. She bent down to drop the sticks near the fire, "Is it ok if I sit next to you?"

"Yeah, of course."

Tara walked into the small cavern and took a seat on the blanket next to him, perfectly aware of every single inch of space between them.

"Thank you Jax…for this. For everything," she looked over at him with wide eyes. "This is so nice of you. You didn't have to."

"I know," he smiled, "I just figured you could probably use something nice…it's kinda simple and rushed but…"

"It's perfect," she finished. Her hazel eyes met his blue ones in a brazen consuming stare. One that spoke volumes more than anything they could have said allowed. This time Jax was the one to break their stare, looking back to the flames.

"Thanks… I, um…I really wanted to see you again, Tara," he said looking back to her face, "Not that I had this planned or anything but I was on my way to your house when I saw you running. And after everything, well, I thought maybe you might wanna get away. I've never actually brought anyone out here before."

"Never?" she asked.

"Not even Opie."

Tara suddenly felt like maybe she had really misjudged him. All this time she'd thought he was this tough guy biker badass, which I'm sure he partly allows and encourages people to believe, but maybe that was more show than tell. Because the Jackson Teller in front of her now didn't seem anything like that guy at all.

"Are you still cold?" Jax suddenly asked, "You're shaking."

She hadn't noticed but as she looked at her bare legs bouncing up and down, she became very aware of how icy they felt.

"Here," Jax reached over behind her and grabbed a second blanket, a sleeping bag, and throwing it over her legs.

"Jax," Tara said, quickly overcome with emotion, "thank you for all this….thank you so much."

In an instant, all of the stress and heartbreak and triumph from the day hit her full force and before she even knew what she was doing, Tara had leaned over and thrown her arms around his neck, unexpectedly knocking him off balance until he was on his back with Tara lying across his chest. She started to pull herself back, extremely embarrassed by what she'd done, she was so clumsy! But Jax suddenly grabbed a hold of her arms and they locked eyes again. They were no longer the sparkling sapphires they had been during the day. Here in the cavern they were dark and burning with intensity. Paralyzed in his arms, she could see the reflection of the flames dancing in his eyes. Tara was mesmerized. So when Jax started to pull her back down, slowly towards his face, his eyes never leaving hers, her elbows bent along with pull. She was helpless to stop him.

One moment she was staring into the fiery and bottomless blue of his eyes and the next everything was dark and she felt…she felt…. she felt his lips… soft and needy, parted and pressed against her own, back and forth, slowly at first, then harder, stronger, more insistent. His tongue grazed her lower lip and without thinking she met it fiercely with her own, letting them dance around each other, rhythmically working together, pushing, pulling, and twisting around each other. It sent a firestorm racing through her body. She felt his hands twining in her hair, holding her to him. She felt his chest rising and compressing beneath her own, his hands running up her arms and then down her sides, sending shivers up her spine, then reaching around to her back and pressing her body firmly against his own, her leg falling between his, pinning it against his rigid manhood. She felt her blood roaring in her veins, her heart pounding in her chest, his ragged breath mixing with her own, and then… She felt the passion building until it overwhelmed her senses and she could no longer think about anything but right now. She felt consumed…burning….she felt herself falling...deeper and deeper into the fire… and she never wanted it to stop…


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

His senses were heightened in a way he'd never known. Jax Teller had kissed plenty of other girls before. He'd felt them up. He'd fucked them. But nothing in his experience had ever prepared him for the way he was feeling now. It was more than the rush of a woman under his fingers, more than the primal urges a man feels for a woman. Tara's body and eagerness, her mystery, everything, had him reeling. He wasn't ashamed to admit he'd always been a greedy lover. He took what he wanted and what he gave he gave because he enjoyed knowing how good he was at what he was doing, not for any concern for the girl of the week. Who really worries about pleasing sluts? But this was _entirely_ different. _She_ was entirely different. He'd tried to fight it when she'd fallen on him, tried to keep it together, but her touch was too much and one look in her eyes and he knew he wasn't strong enough to counter the magnetism anymore. He'd wanted to be a gentleman for her, to be respectful and take things slow, but he was a man too and sixteen at that. He only had so much self control and Tara lying over him, even if on accident, turned out to be more than he could bear. He clenched his hands in her hair as it fell in a dark curtain around their faces, shutting out the light but not the heat. Even with her body pressed against his, she wasn't close enough.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Jax slid his right arm around to her back while leaving the other wrapped in her hair and in one swift motion he rolled her over onto the blanket as she gasped into his mouth. Jax pulled his face a few inches away from hers, just enough to look in her eyes as he eased his body into the natural position between her legs. She did not waver but instead boldly met his gaze. He felt her bend her knees and arch her hips against his unyielding manhood. The way her hair sprawled across the blanket, her eyes burning dark with desire, mouth parted, lying there in _his_ shirt, her chest rising and falling heavily with every ragged breath…it was too much. _TOO_ much. Jax leaned back into her waiting arms and took her mouth back in his. His body moved without him thinking. As their tongues and mouths ebbed and flowed around each other, Jax thrust his hips to grind against her pelvic bones, his aching erection relishing the friction. When Tara groaned in his mouth, he almost lost it. He'd never wanted someone so bad, wanted to be inside someone so bad. It took everything he had not to tear off her clothes. Tara arched her hips to press against him again. He knew he shouldn't but he couldn't stop himself. His hand found the hem of the sweatshirt, _his_ sweatshirt that _she_ was wearing, and slid it beneath the thick material, slowly, so not to scare her…his mouth still moving fervently with hers, but upon feeling the cotton of her tank top below, he let his hand dig a bit deeper and eased it underneath. Goosebumps rose on her skin the instant his fingers touched her and when her back arched up reactively to meet him, Jax felt himself losing control. He'd never had a problem with premature anything but his body was threatening to betray him at every touch and Tara was getting bolder and needier by the minute, her mouth hungrier and her hips aggressively rocking against his faster and faster. He knew this wasn't right, he should be taking things slow with her; he liked this girl, _really_ liked this girl. He wanted to do it right. He didn't want to ruin everything on the first chance he got with her. He couldn't! He shouldn't!

"Tara…" he whispered, his voice thick and deep, he was panting to keep up with the blood rushing through his veins. Her hazel eyes glowed erotically in the firelight, shots of oranges flickering between the green and brown, her breathing heavy as his own, "Tara, are you sure this is what you want..? Maybe we shouldn…"

But his words were cut off as she silently reached up, running her fingernails against his scalp and through his hair, sending shocks down his spine, never taking her eyes off of him, she clenched her hands in his hair and pulled him down to her. He watched her face intently. Even as her eyes fluttered shut the moment before their lips met there was some kind of hope….but then….he couldn't fight it any more. Any self control he'd had was _gone_. He no longer felt the fire, he WAS the fire. He attacked her mouth with all his pent up ferocity and his hand, no longer timid, slid quickly around the skin of her waist to her back and _pulled_ her up to him. As they sat up with her legs wrapped around his waist, Jax pulled his arms away from her long enough to rip his shirts off and throw them across the cave. Tara, showing a bravado he hadn't expected, suddenly did the same, somehow managing to pull all three of the shirts over her head at the same time. Tossing them down next to her, she threw her arms around his neck, smashing herself against him. Jax grabbed her face between his hands and violently kissed her mouth. Back and forth their tongues pushed at each other until she broke away and cautiously reclined back against the blanket. Her chocolate colored hair fanning out beneath her, her pale skin like porcelain, and her perfect breasts rising and falling in a simple black cotton bra….it was too much… Jax reached forward and grasped the button on the front of her shorts, nervous as he had never been before, not even his first time. The urgency was gone…whatever was happening, about to happen, between them now, was deliberate. His eyes never left hers, ready to stop at the smallest sign she gave, but she didn't. She just laid there….waiting…Sliding the small silver button through the slit, he felt the tension go out of the waistline and he slowly began to pull them across her legs. His fingers hooked on her panty line and he waited for a sign to stop, waited for her to change her mind, but if she was scared she never showed it.

He eased them down, looking nowhere but her eyes but as she raised her legs to slide her feet out of her clothes and slip off her shoes, he knew she was not going to change her mind. Letting her shorts and panties fall from his hands, he reached for his own jeans and unfastened them. They fell to his knees, and he slid down his cotton boxers, exposing himself to her as she had to him. But their eyes remained on each other. Jax gently lowered himself back down to her. Finally feeling her skin against his own and seeing her so bare threatened to undo him. For all of those minutes they had passed with their eyes closed and in the dark, they kept them open now. Staring in each other's eyes, still waiting for her to change her mind, Jax pressed himself against the warm wet area between her thighs. He felt himself slide in a little but she was so tight he realized he would have to press harder. Pushing a little stronger, he felt something inside her subtly give way; there was a flinch in Tara's eyes and Jax realized what he'd just done. For a moment, neither of them moved but breathed in unison, suddenly one person. He was inside of her; where he now knew she'd never let someone before. But if she was scared or hurt, she didn't let it show, just watched him with her cat-like eyes. Slowly, he eased himself back, watching her exhale slowly, her eyelashes fluttering, then gradually pushing himself back inside as she inhaled…_slowly_…._in…..then out…..in….then out_…...As her body started responding to the action it had been designed for he began moving faster… a little bit stronger, she wound her fingers tightly in his hair_….in…out…in…out…._but the buildup earlier had been too much and he could feel every ribbed muscle inside of her start to tighten around him. It was too much_...too much_….Jax felt the tightness run through his body until it shot up his spine and into his throat. _Building…building_…._it was right there_! Suddenly, her heard Tara gasp and it WAS too much…His orgasm erupted, forcing him to pull out, all of his senses seeming to explode at the same time: light, sound, smell, taste, and touch…_holy Christ_ , touch! He cried out as he collapsed on her chest and quickly caught his dick in his hand. His muscles shuddered throughout his body as he spent himself in his palm in one last effort to try and be a gentleman. Tara squirmed beneath him, seemingly dealing with some sort of spasms of her own, sharply inhaling every few seconds and long slow exhales… Jax was deadweight on top of her and, unable to move, he rested his head against the ground by Tara's face while she squirmed beneath him, seeming to deal with spasms of her own. They continued to lay like that for another few minutes with their eyes closed trying to steady their breaths and bring their heart rates back to normal.

Painstakingly, Jax pulled himself back up on his hands. Tara's eyes fluttered open, her breathing still a bit heavy.

"Tara, are you ok?" he asked gently. She nodded her head, eyelids drifting closed again. All at once, he was overwhelmed with guilt, "Tara, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" She cut him off with a finger pressed firmly to his lips.

"It was my choice," she said huskily. "You tried to stop me and I kept going."

"Tara, I just….I like you. I don't want to mess this up…."

"So don't." she said looking up to him again, "Jax, I've never done this before…and maybe this wasn't the right thing to do or the best thing to do….but maybe I needed it. Maybe I needed you…I'm not sure if you want to be with me or what this was…but I don't regret it."

Something about her honesty and bravery, when he was feeling so unsure, spoke to him and he felt himself falling even harder for this girl. He still had no idea what this was but one thing was for sure. It wasn't something he could walk away from without seeing where it led. Jax bent down to kiss her. Tenderly and only for a moment.

"You're some woman, Tara," he whispered softly.

"You're a helluva man, Jackson Teller." She reached up and pulled his face down to meet hers again for another short sweet kiss. He looked in her eyes one last time, sleepy and satiated, before rolling off of her and onto his back, careful to keep the mess in his right hand away from her. Because he couldn't have anticipated this happening, he really had nothing to clean it with. Nasty as it was, he reached to under side of the blanket and wiped his hand off. He'd made a mess….Jax reached for his boxers and jeans to pull them back up around his waist, sliding up the zipper and closing the button.

"Um…Jax?" Tara uttered.

Jax turned back towards her to see her lying there propped on her elbows, still gloriously naked aside from her bra. It took him a moment to realize her concern, until he saw the firelight shimmer across her stomach…_well, so much for trying to be a gentleman_. He made a bigger mess than he'd thought.

"Oh god Tara," he laughed, "I'm so sorry!"

To her credit, she smiled and laughed and said, "I always heard it was awkward the first time."

He had to laugh too. He hadn't brought any napkins or anything so this was about to get even more awkward.

"Tara, I didn't plan for this to happen so I didn't really bring anything to….I'm sorry about this," he laughed as he reached back to pull off his white Nike and peel off his sock. "Desperate times…"

Jax took the sock and started to wipe it against her belly firmly so it wouldn't just smear. He silently thanked God the weather had been cooler so it wasn't sweaty or smell. Out of nowhere, he saw her stomach start bouncing up and down and as he looked up at her, he saw Tara with her hand over her mouth trying incredibly hard not to laugh.

"Well I'm glad you think this is amusing!" he laughed with her. He finished getting off what he could and chucked the dirty garment in the corner. Turning back to Tara, he could see her growing more uncomfortable with her nudity. He saw her shorts and panties by his feet and the sweatshirt he'd let her borrow behind her head. Reaching for one and then the other, he handed them to Tara while keeping his eyes averted.

"Thank you," she whispered. Jax could hear her shuffling into the clothes and realized he was still shirtless, but he didn't much feel like getting up either. Between recovering from their little escapade and the heat of the fire, he wasn't overly cold just yet. He kicked off his other shoe and sock and saw that the backpack was still within range though. So as Tara finished dressing, he emptied the harder stuff out of his bag and put it behind his head. When he thought she'd finished, he snuck a peek over to see Tara sitting up with her arms around her legs, chin on her knees, still barefoot. His eyebrows furrowed together with concern.

"Do you want me to take you home?" he asked.

"No. Definitely not."

Her response was relieving. Still reclined against his bag, Jax smiled and reached out to her, "Come here."

Tara looked at him for a moment with a small smile on her lips before taking his hand and letting him pull her back into him. With his other arm he reached out for the sleeping bag Tara had discarded when she fell on him and pulled it over their legs before wrapping his arm back around her. She nuzzled her head into his bare shoulder and curled up against him. When he felt her arms slide around his waist and her casually throw her leg over his, Jax felt…..He barely knew this girl but she made him feel somehow _complete_. Jax kissed the top of her head and silently wished that this could be one of those nights that went on forever.

They sat there in silence watching the fire burn and the stars shimmer in the night. Feeling at peace, he had no idea how long they'd sat there while he absentmindedly rubbed her arm with his hand, smiling to himself, when Tara suddenly said,

"My mother died when I was nine and my father's a drunk."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

It had been such a lovely dream….

She groaned softly as the light streamed into her eyes. Her whole body ached. _Uggggh five more minutes_, she thought and wondered why her pillow was breathing….

_Breathing_?

Tara slowly opened her eyes. It took a moment to adjust to the sunlight before she was able to see the scenery around her. Taking in the brilliant blue sky and the random scatter of trees she realized she was certainly not at home and her pillow was definitely breathing. She glanced down and saw a blue sleeping bag and a man's bare arm thrown over her. The memories of last night quickly started filtering back to her. _I slept with Jackson Teller. I gave my virginity away… in a cave… to Jackson Teller… oh Tara… _She felt the shame roll in, but in truth, she knew she probably should have felt much worse. He didn't love her, she knew he _certainly_ wasn't a virgin, and Lord knows how many girls he's been with, but Tara just didn't have the emotional capacity to care about those things right now. He was there when she needed someone and had no one. And, despite his reputation, he was very sweet guy. She could see below the show he put on. He was damaged. He was sensitive. And so was she. There was a lot more to him that meets the eye but what met the eye was a pretty nice view too….so she supposed she could have done a lot worse than Jackson Teller.

She closed her eyes again and reflected on what had turned out to be the most random night of her life. Little Miss Goodie Two-Shoes had allowed herself to be smitten, walked home, and later rescued by the resident bad boy who also happened to be one of the most gorgeous guys she'd ever seen. And then she surrendered her maidenhood in a cave after he whisked her away to his secret spot on his motorcycle... Tara had given up on fairy tales a long time ago but maybe, just for a little while, she would let herself pretend. It sure sounded like one to her anyway. After last night, Jax knew more about her than anyone else in the world. Tara didn't have friends. She'd never told anyone about her home life even though she knew most people had some kind of idea. But Jax had listened and surprised her by talking about how dysfunctional his own home life was. She'd had no idea. In fact, by comparison, his home life actually seemed almost worse…not only had he lost his dad in a horrific accident, but also lost his little brother to a heart condition when he was really young. His dad's best friend and his mom started sleeping together almost immediately after his dad passed away and apparently his mom is also incredibly overbearing and manipulative. THEN you could throw in whatever drama came from the motorcycle club. Tara smiled to herself as she remembered calling them a gang and how adamant Jax had been to correct her.

They'd talked about everything last night from what had happened that night with her father, the aftermath of losing their parents, to school, to the Sons of Anarchy and what they did for the community (which turned out to be a lot, actually). That was about when she'd acquiesced that they could be called a "club". All of the years of not saying anything to anyone, all of her pent up thoughts and words came flowing out like water last night. It felt good to have someone to talk to. It really felt like they had connected on a pretty deep level. But Tara was a realist and not a dreamer and she knew this couldn't last. Come Monday morning she would go back to being the invisible girl in the hallways, just another notch in his belt. She didn't want to think like that but it didn't mean that it wasn't probably still true. The more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. But all the girls liked Jax Teller. They flocked to him like moths to a flame and there was nothing all that special about her that was enough to get him to stay. Tara tried not to let the thought get her down. If all she had was now, she wanted to try and enjoy it while she could.

Jax took a deep breath in and Tara's head rose against his expanding chest. She felt his arms sense she was there and tighten around her. Chancing a peek up at his face, she saw him slowly open his eyes and give her a sleepy smile.

"Hey you," he said groggily.

"Hey," she smiled back.

"You sleep ok?"

"Mmm hmm. You?"

"Yeah," he smiled again, "I really did. Well…for being on the ground."

He laughed lazily and Tara was forced to laugh too. It WAS a rather odd place to crash the night. All things considered though, she wasn't sure there wasn't anywhere else she'd rather be. She propped her chin up on his chest and looked into his amazing blue eyes.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Do you have plans for today?"

"Today?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "It's Saturday. Do you have any plans?"

"No."

"Did you want me to take you home?"

Tara sensed a brush off coming on…_Oh well_, she thought, _you knew this was coming_…She hadn't expected it quite so fast though. She looked down away from him and started to pull away, "I suppose I probably should…"

He laughed and held her arms, "That's not what I asked, Tara…"

She looked at him again in confusion, "Wh..?"

"I asked if you _wanted_ to go home, not if you should…" He laughed again. She was still confused. What was he asking her? "You want to do something today, Tara?"

"Me?" she exclaimed, "With you?"

"Yeah. Me and you. You want to do something today? With me?" he laughed again. She could tell he was mocking her a little bit but she was too bewildered to be feisty back. He wanted to keep spending time with her?

"Um…y..yeah.." she stuttered, "…sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, since I don't have to take you home," he said pulling her back down against his chest, "I thought maaaybe we could just keep lying here for awhile."

Tara smiled up at him and caught him smiling down at her.

"Just lie here, huh?" she smirked.

"Wellllll," he said slyly, rolling on his side so they were face to face," we wouldn't _necessarily_ have to just lie here…"

"Jesus, Jax!" she laughed and playfully slapped his chest.

"Hey, it was worth a shot, right?"

She continued to laugh and saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. In the time it took to blink, Jax had crossed the small distance between them and confidently planted a kiss on her lips. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was over in an instant but when he pulled away, Tara felt herself lean in ever so slightly.

"You know what?" he said suddenly, "I've got a better idea."

XxxXxxX

They had driven from wherever they were to Stockton to catch a movie. Tara had never heard of Pulp Fiction before they walked in but she would definitely never forget it. That movie was crazy! It was a matinee show so the theater was virtually empty but Jax still wanted to sit in the back anyway, said it had a better view of the screen. Tara laughed and rolled her eyes at that. He'd gotten them some popcorn too and she'd almost dropped it during that awful scene in the basement of the pawn shop. When she'd cringed, Jax put his arm around her and left it there for the rest of the movie…Tara didn't mind. Now as they were walking out of the theater and into the afternoon sun, they were just trying to decide if they wanted to eat somewhere in Stockton or grab something back in Charming.

"Are you sure you don't need to check in with your mom, Jax? I don't want you to get in trouble or anything."

"Don't worry about it, Tara," he smiled. "If my mom goes looking for me…and she will…the first person she'll go to is Opie and if Ope knows my mom's looking for me, he's always got my back. He'll tell her I stayed at his place and then went for a ride or something, which when you think about it, is only half a lie."

Tara looked at him incredulously and wondered what it must be like to have someone you're so close with that they cover for you without you even asking. "So obviously you've done this kind of thing before..?"

"Don't think too hard on it, Tara. Ever since my dad died, I don't like being home much. Usually I do wind up with Opie, otherwise I'll go for a drive somewhere to think. You're the only person I ever brought out to my spot but I've crashed there many many times. Sometimes it's nice to be alone, ya know? Anyway, what're you thinking? Eat here or head back and grab something in town?"

"Let's eat here…I'm kind of enjoying being somewhere else."

They hopped on his bike again and headed off to look for something on their way out of town. Tara was really starting to enjoy the feeling of being on the back of a bike. There was something very liberating about being exposed to the sun and the wind, no seat belts, nothing to confine you, the view was entirely different….and not to mention she got to wrap her arms around Jax's waist. The more comfortable she got though, the less she actually hung on now. As they neared the outskirts of town, her hands were resting lightly on his hips. Even through his jeans, it sent electricity through her veins. A naughty thought crept to mind as she watched the businesses fly by.

Leaning forward against his back, Tara called over the wind, "Hey Jax! I changed my mind…let's go to Charming!"

"Alright!" he called back and the engine roared as he shifted to a higher gear and flew down the highway. Tara had only spent maybe a total of two hours on the back of this thing but now she felt her blood rush at the sound. There was something about being on a motorcycle, being with Jax, not going home last night or telling anyone where she was going, losing her virginity on a whim…in a cave… She could feel the good girl inside of her starting to grow smaller and some unknown rebellious Tara starting to creep her way up and into her head. She felt bolder…she felt more confident…she felt…she felt her hands sliding from the top of his hip bones down to where they met his legs and as she slowly leaned her body against his back she firmly ran her hands down the top of his thighs. Tara felt his back straighten up suddenly and smiling mischievously to herself, she lightly dug her nails in and ran them back up his legs until they were resting on his hips again. She was rewarded with feeling him shifting in his seat. She squeezed her thighs slightly tighter against his and then slid her hands from his hips back around his waist and up to his chest and rested her head against his back. Tara felt his body tense up beneath her and she knew she had him. Smiling wickedly to herself, she made a mental note to do it again in ten minutes. The little goodie-two-shoes Tara inside her was telling her she really shouldn't be doing this but the newer sassier Tara told her to shut it.

She may have thrown herself under the bus a little bit by what had happened last night but that didn't mean all was lost. She heard her father's voice drift in her head from long ago, _'If you want to catch a fish, sweetie, first, you put the bait on the line and cast it in the water. Everybody has a different preference on what area they think they'll have the best luck but that's up to you. It's mostly about waiting. There's a lot of waiting involved but you just gotta be patient. Now when a fish comes along, more than likely they're just going to take a nibble. Just a taste to see if it's something they want. You go ahead and let them take a little bit but then you gotta take your pole and reel it back a little so it's just outta reach and they've gotta come after it. Not too far, just a little. The more they chase it the more they want it. And once you know they've got a mouth full you jerk it back, hooking them on your line and you just reel 'em on in. Ya got all that, baby?' 'Yes, Daddy,' she'd smiled._

Tara had given Jax a little more than a taste but by no means had she given him everything. Unknowingly, her father and a hundred Lifetime movies and cable dramas had prepared her for this moment… catching a boy was just like catching a fish…

And Tara had always been phenomenal at fishing.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

If Tara did that one more time, Jax was going to pull his bike over and fuck her in the nearest gas station bathroom. His dick was so hard it was actually starting to hurt. Her innocence was endearing but it was also starting to get painful. She obviously knew enough to wind him up but maybe she didn't quite know what the term "blue balls" meant… As she ran her nails up his legs again, he knew he couldn't take it anymore. Spying a Safeway ahead, he down-shifted his bike. _This girl is driving me crazy! _As the bike slowed, Tara finally stopped moving her hands and held onto his waist. He drove around the side of the building and dropped the stand. He hopped off first and held his hand out to her. She smiled up at him while pulling off her helmet and was about to say something but as soon as her feet were planted safely underneath her, Jax grabbed her around the waist and pushed her up against the shadowed brick wall. She dropped the helmet to the ground but he didn't wait to see if she'd protest and slid one of his hands up to clutch her hair and slammed his mouth onto hers. He pressed his erection up against her hips and let her feel what she had been doing to him since they'd left Stockton. Their tongues danced around each other aggressively, pushing and pulling for a minute or two that seemed like forever and then he softly bit her lower lip, pulling it with him for a moment as he finally drew away from their kiss. He looked in her beautiful hazel eyes, dark with desire, and saw her chest rising and falling, her breathing just as heavy as his own. Holding her face with both hands, he pressed his forehead up against hers.

"What're you doing to me, Tara?" he said longingly.

"I..I'm sorr.."

"No," he cut her off, "no, don't be sorry. You're amazing…I'm just trying to figure you out and you keep throwing me curve balls…"

"I'm sorry."

Jax laughed and couldn't contain his smile. Still holding the sides of her face, he pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes.

"Quit apologizing, Tara. You're one of the most interesting people I've ever met. But I think you're going to go left and you go right. You've got my head spinning and I don't quite know what to make of it. But I swear, if you run your hands down my leg one more time, I'm going to take you back to the cave and not Charming…" he said laughing. A flicker of something mischievous crossed her eyes and it only worsened his problem. Jax closed his eyes and pulled her head into his chest, clenching his fists in her hair. _What IS this girl doing to me_? he wondered. He'd liked girls before…but it never failed that as soon as he hit it and they suddenly started talking at him like they wanted to date or something, he lost interest, fast. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? Especially if there's a line of cows waiting to visit your farm?

But this…whatever this _thing_ was that Tara had brought out of him, was making him feel, was not something he'd experienced before. It was confusing as fuck. He knew it would be safer to drop her off at home and try and forget all of it but he also knew he'd never be able to do that. It was like a door had opened inside of him and he had to see what was on the other side, but that if he went through it, there was no way to go back again….but the feeling was too strong…he had to know…

Jax rested his head atop Tara's, exhausted from the battle going on in his mind.

"Whaddya say we go find that food?" he asked.

Tara had her arms wrapped around his waist but suddenly he felt her hands sliding up the back of his shirt.

"Ok," she said.

He pulled away from her just far enough to see her face and cocked an eyebrow at her with a smile.

"You're a little troublemaker, aren't you?"

"What?!" she laughed, "Me?"

"Mhm…I'll bet that quiet exterior is just a façade for all the mischief you cause…you're probably a little rebel behind those straight A's," he jested.

"Oh, is that it?" she asked, "And here I thought that was just the Jax Teller Effect."

Her sassiness caught him off guard and he found it completely arousing…which is not what he needed right now…

"Tara Knowles!" he exclaimed jokingly, "What has gotten into you?"

With a bold gaze she leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "I'm pretty sure you did…"

For the rest of his life he would never forget that moment: the wind blowing her hair, the devilish smirk on her face, and her eyes flickering naughtily. Not only was she smart and beautiful, but she was feisty and it was sexy as hell. He felt the blood rushing back between his hips, the desire flooding back.

He leaned toward her ear and whispered back, "If you're not careful it's going to happen again sooner than you'd think…"

Without missing a beat, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm not scared of you, Jackson Teller."

_I am about to lose it in my jeans and this girl isn't even touching me_, Jax thought to himself. If this conversation kept going the way it was he was going to be facing the very real possibility of having to go to the bathroom to jackoff just so he could manage to get her home without ravishing her on the side of the road. He knew she probably wasn't ready to go there again yet. He'd heard somewhere that the first time or two was hard on a girl…but if it was, she hid it well. She was pushing all the right buttons and if she had been any other dumb slut, he'd of gladly taken what he wanted and not thought twice about it or how she was feeling. But even though he'd never wanted a girl so bad in his life, never been so turned on by just _words_, he'd also never been so worried about screwing something up…it was a viciously sweet torment. He must be sick…it was all relatively new though…maybe if he just gave it a few days, maybe it would pass.

From somewhere deep inside though, he heard a voice say, _No...It won't_.

"Alright, alright Tara," he announced his defeat, "You win. Now let's get back to Charming."

He saw the flicker go out of her eyes. Jax knew she didn't really want to go home but they couldn't stay away any more. He'd already been gone too long and if his mom had grilled the truth out of Opie that he had no idea where Jax was, and there was a distinct chance she might, he knew there would be about ten burly guys on Harleys hunting him down. He didn't know that Tara was ready for that and he didn't know that he was ready to get his ass chewed out in front of Tara either for not telling anyone where he was going. He knew better…if they'd been a normal family his mom probably wouldn't have been as concerned but because of the extracurricular activities of SAMCRO and him being the unofficial Prince of Charming, him going M.I.A. could be taken very badly.

"If I get caught in Charming, I'll get in a lot less trouble than if I get caught coming back from Stockton," he laughed. "Are you still hungry?"

"Yeah," she answered much less playfully. And just like that, feisty Tara was gone. It made him a bit sad but there wasn't much he could do to remedy that. She was going to have to go home sometime.

"C'mon," he said taking her hand, "I know a great place for burgers."

She gave him a small smile as he led her back to his bike.

XxxXxxX

The sun had just started to go down when he parked his bike around the side of Sam's Diner. It was a quiet little place on the main square where they weren't likely to garner much attention. It was more of a breakfast/lunch place so this time of day it should be pretty slow. He kicked down the stand and let Tara hop off before standing up himself. As she unfastened the helmet again, he ran his fingers through his wild hair in an attempt to tame it down. He watched Tara set the helmet on the handlebars and adjust his sweatshirt in a way that you could still tell she was wearing shorts. Jax knew what people would think when they saw her in his Reaper Crew hoodie, worse than if they'd just been seen together. He was fully aware of his reputation around town but it had never bothered him until thinking about how that might affect Tara now. She was a good girl, he hadn't meant for her to be a conquest, but that's exactly how the people of Charming would see it. Being the quiet one had its advantages and disadvantages. And to be seen in that hoodie, with him, was probably going to be a disadvantage for her this time. But somehow, he still couldn't get himself to suggest she take it off. There was a part of him that sort of did want to mark her as his. Not as a conquest like the others, but maybe because by most standards she really was too good for him and yet here she was. He hadn't taken her because he could and he didn't believe for a second that she had given herself to him because of his charm and good looks.

"You look great," he smirked at her, "C'mon, I'm starving."

He grabbed her hand and they headed across the lot to the front of the building.

A bell hanging above the door chimed as they walked in. There were a few people scattered throughout the diner and a patron or two sitting up at the long counter that ran the length of the building. Jax chose a corner booth by the front window and Tara slid into the seat across from him. They'd spent so much time sitting side by side or with her riding behind him, it was nice change to look at her straight on. Her chocolate colored hair was parted down the center and fell past her shoulders and his black Reaper sweatshirt brought out just how light her skin was, practically porcelain. Tara was chewing on her lower lip and looking out the window.

"You ok?" he asked.

Tara turned her eyes back to his but her expression was unreadable. Jax reached across the table to grab her hand and gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. For a moment he wondered if she was feeling uncomfortable being with him now that they were back in Charming.

"Just memories," she responded quietly. When he shot her a confused look, she changed the subject, "Don't worry about it…so what's good here?"

Before he could answer though, the waitress appeared at the end of the table. She was an older woman, probably in her mid-fifties with graying blonde hair pulled back and a white apron over her orange dress.

"Can I get y'all something to drink?"

"Yeah," Jax answered, "Can I get a Cherry Coke and a…."

"Just water, please," Tara finished.

"Cherry Coke and a water. I'll go get those and give you two a few minutes to look over the menu," she said laying the two laminated menus on the table between them.

"Thanks." Turning back to Tara he said, "So did you have fun today? Running off with the outlaw's son?"

He gave her a cocky grin which caused her to break out in a laugh. Her smile was as wide as her face and it made her eyes squint up in an adorable way. He couldn't help but smile genuinely back at her.

"Well," she smirked at him and rubbed her thumb over his hand like he'd done to her, "I suppose it wasn't toooo bad."

They just sat like there for a moment, smiling at each other, and Jax knew he could get used to days like this. They'd talked a lot the night before about their lives, for better and for worse, and found they had a lot in common and today they had spent together, not so much talking, as just being together, riding the Harley, hitting up the movie. Even in the silent times he found himself happy just to be with her and holding her hand. If Tara was game, Jax couldn't wait to see where this might go. The door chimed ahead of him, breaking his reverie, and glancing over, he saw the Hale brothers and two other guys from Charming High with them. _Great_, Jax thought. The Hale brothers were the popular athletic sons of Judge Hale, quite the opposite of a motorcycle outlaw's child. David, the younger one, wasn't too bad. He was in the same grade as Jax and Tara and a lot quieter than his egocentric older brother Jacob, but he still walked around like he had a stick up his ass. Jacob was a senior and was none too shy about acting like his family's money made him better than everyone else. Jax had to fight off the urge not to wipe that snide smile off his face every time he saw him. He tried not to focus on them but Tara must have noticed something had caught his eye and when she turned around to see what he was looking at, he saw David's eyes shoot open at the sight of her.

"Tara?" he said and started to make his way over, his brother and the other two meatheads following behind.

"Son of a bitch," Jax muttered under his breath. Once again, Tara must have heard him because she looked back at him with a questioning look on her face.

"Jax," David nodded at him as he approached.

"David," he nodded back trying to hide his annoyance.

"Hey Tara," David said shifting his attention, "how're you doing? I don't usually see you out on Saturdays."

"Yeah, that's cause I'm usually not," she said looking over to Jax. David looked back at Jax and then back to Tara with a confused expression. It was right about that time that he must have noticed their hands on the other end of the table.

"Oh, well, you know if you ever get bored or want to hang out or anything just let me know."

"Oh, ok," she said nervously, "I'll do that."

Jax looked across the table at her trying to figure out if she actually meant that or was just being polite but true to her nature, he couldn't read her expression.

"We've got a football game this next Friday. You should come watch."

"Um, well, I'll check what I've got going on and see if maybe I can make it."

"That'd be great," he smiled down at her. It was about that time that their waitress made her way back to the table with their drinks. "Well, I'll leave you two be," David said. "Jax. Tara. Have a good night," he said looking at her again before walking away.

Jax glared at him as he walked away. He could feel his blood boiling under the surface. _Who the fuck does he think he is, strutting over here and asking if she's doing anything later when he can tell she was here with him?_ He wanted to stroll over there and jack him in the face. He saw them slide into a booth across the diner. Jax was still contemplating if he could take all four of them when he felt a squeeze to his hand. He glanced back to Tara and saw her watching him with a small smile on her face.

"You ok, Jax?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Do you two know what you'd like to order?" the waitress asked kindly.

"Uh, yeah," Jax answered, "I'm just going to get a bacon cheeseburger, medium, with no onions…aaaand…"

"A chicken strip basket with some barbecue on the side, please."

"Sure. Is that all you guys need?"

"Yeah, that should be all. Thank you," Jax replied.

"So what was that all about?" Tara asked as the waitress walked away.

"What do you mean?"

"You were glaring at him the whole time," she laughed quietly.

"Do you two have a thing?" Jax asked bluntly.

"What?" she laughed again, "Me and David? God, no! Sometimes he says hi to me in the hallway but that's about it. I don't even know why he came over here."

Jax glanced over and saw that David was looking back his way. In a rush of spite, Jax got up to lean across the table and cupping her face in his free hand, he kissed her gently on the lips for a few seconds. Not enough to be obscene but enough to make a statement. _Kiss my ass, rich kid_, he thought, s_he's mine_. _Mine_? he caught himself, _Well that was quick_… But he realized he didn't care. As of right now and until he changed his mind, she was his. He glanced back across the diner and knew that David had seen them. _Good_.

"Hey Tara," he asked sitting back down, "what're you doing next Friday?"

"Ummm…" she smiled confusingly, "I don't _think_ I'm up to anything…"

Giving her his most award winning smile, dimples and all, he asked, "How'd you like to go to a football game with me?"

Tara's left eyebrow shot up and her grin was as wide as her face. There was no fooling this girl…but that was ok because he hadn't been trying to.

"Since when did you decide you liked football?"

"Oh about three minutes ago," he grinned wickedly.

"Well, I might be free," she said coyly.

"Good," he got back up and leaned over to give her another quick peck on the lips.

The rest of the meal went off without a hitch and they laughed and talked about school and the people they couldn't stand. Jax decided to not bring up the Hale brothers. They ate their food absentmindedly and Jax couldn't stop thinking about the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled or how she was constantly tucking her hair behind her ears just for it to fall back forward a moment later. By the time the waitress brought them their check, the sun was starting to fade behind the trees. His thoughts shot back to his mom and he knew she was going to be livid with him. But at least he was in town so he was on home turf. He wondered for a moment if Tara was going to be in trouble with her dad or if he'd even of noticed she was gone. Jax had planned on taking her home but now he was starting to wonder if he could get away with keeping her out for another few hours. It was Saturday…but when he saw her yawn across the table, he knew he should take her home. They had spent the previous night outside in a cave so she probably hadn't slept that well, not to mention the other activities that had probably taken a bit of a toll on her. He smiled to himself at the memory of seeing her beneath him, being inside her….

"You ready to go, Tara?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said.

Jax pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed some cash on the table for the waitress. They both slid out of the booth and Jax threw his arm over Tara's shoulder and she slid her arm around his waist. She was just the right height. Walking past the Hale brothers again next to the door, Jax kissed her on the temple and led her out the door. The night air was refreshing although a bit cooler than the night before. He knew he'd have to get Tara home pretty quick because her legs were bound to get cold in those short shorts she was wearing so well. They hopped on the bike again and he relished the feeling of her arms around his waist and her thighs pressing up against his. As they pulled out of the parking lot and rounded the front of the building, Jax revved his engine for good measure. _Eat it, Hale_ he smiled to himself.

He pulled up to Tara's and the house was dark, which he assumed was probably a good thing. He rolled his bike into the driveway and killed the engine. Letting Tara off first, he lowered the stand again and got up to walk her those few last feet to her door. It'd only been a little more than 24 hrs ago that he'd touched her hand for the first time and here he was now head over heels for the girl. Tara handed the helmet back to him and he laid it across the handlebars.

"Jax," she started, fumbling with her hands, "thank you. For everything. I don't know where I would have wound up if you hadn't found me last night."

"I'm glad I could be there," he said with his hands in his pockets, suddenly feeling every bit the awkward teenager. It was a strange and foreign feeling to him. _Say something! _"So I'll see you in school Monday?" _Not that!_

"Yeah," she smiled quietly back at him, "I had a lot of fun with you, Jax. Today and…well…last night and everything."

It may have been dark out but Jax was pretty sure he saw a blush creeping into her ivory cheeks.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," he said, his confidence returning. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he reached forward and held both sides of her face, leaning in for another gentle sweet kiss. He could have kissed her all night. Instead, he pulled away, looking her in her beautiful hazel eyes, so dark in the twilight, and tucked another errant strand of hair behind her ear. Jax slid his hands down her arms until they were holding her delicate hands. Backing away a step or two, he brought one to his lips and let them gently brush over her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers. He saw her chest rise up as if she was holding her breath. Retreating another step or two, he let her hands gently slip out of his.

"Have a good night, Tara," he smiled at her with a happiness he'd never felt before.

"You too, Jax," she smiled back.

Grabbing the helmet off of the bars, he straddled his bike and strapped it on for the first time in 24 hours, watching Tara stand there in his Reaper hoodie. _It's a good look for her_, he thought, aroused again by the sight of her in his clothing. He revved his Harley back to life and Tara smiled and gave him a small wave as he backed out of the driveway. _Oh the things I want to do to that girl_…. As she disappeared into the house, Jax sped off down the street, but not towards home. He had to find Opie and make sure he knew what his cover story was before facing the intimidating force of nature that was his mother. There wasn't much that scared Jax in life, but Gemma Teller was definitely one of them.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Monday morning had come much too fast. Tara felt like she needed an entire week off to process what had happened Friday and Saturday. In fact, when she had woken up Sunday morning, she'd lain in bed for an extra hour trying to decide if it hadn't just been a dream. But when she'd finally decided to throw back her covers, the black "Reaper Crew" sweatshirt she'd woken up in testified that there were some things she couldn't make up. She'd slept in it again last night too. It still smelled like Jax… This guy was a bad idea…she knew he was…but just because you know something doesn't mean you stop wanting it. And when she tucked her nose inside the collar of his hoodie and breathed in the scent of him, she knew there was nothing she wanted more.

She stripped off the sweatshirt and tossed it on her bed. There was no way she was going to be able to wear that to school. Not without drawing a massive amount of attention on herself. Everyone in Charming knew who the Sons of Anarchy were, just like everyone knew that any girl associated with the club was probably a whore. Wearing it to a quiet diner at an odd hour was one thing, wearing it into a high school where gossip spreads faster than butter on hot toast was completely different. She really liked Jax but that didn't mean she was ready to throw her reputation out the window quite yet. Still, she couldn't get the giddy feeling out of her heart or that ridiculous smile off of her face. She knew she needed to knock it off, that she was probably just another notch in Jax Teller's bedpost, that he'd probably pulled the same moves on God knows how many other girls, but school didn't start for another forty-five minutes. She still had a little time left to dream.

Tara walked to her dresser and pulled out her favorite pair or torn-up blue jeans and a black and grey, jersey style, Nirvana t-shirt. _Back to normal_, she thought. She threw her hair up in a messy ponytail because she didn't feel like brushing it, put on a little bit of makeup, a little more to cover up the bruise on the side of her face, and pulled some of her bangs down to help disguise it too. She found her Chuck Taylors in the corner and plopped down on the floor to slide them on. Standing up and surveying herself in the mirror, she deemed her appearance acceptable and turned to head towards the door. Glancing back at her bed, she saw Jax's sweatshirt still lying there and just stared at it for a moment. _I should probably give it back to him_, she sighed inwardly, knowing her dream was coming to an end. Walking back to her bed, she rolled up the hoodie, threw it into her bookbag, and zipped it shut.

Hitching the bag over one shoulder, she eased open her bedroom door and headed towards the kitchen. Normally, she skipped breakfast, but she'd woken up especially famished this morning, mostly having to do with opting out of dinner last night. Her father had found her Sunday morning and spent the entire day apologizing for what had happened and trying to make it up to her. She just wanted to be left alone and by the time dinner rolled around she couldn't take it anymore and feigned exhaustion. There were plenty of times that all Tara had ever wanted was to get a glimpse of her old father back, but on that particular day, all she'd wanted was to be by herself. Her dad knew he'd fucked up and she was ok with letting him sit and stew with that for awhile. She quickly fried up an egg and threw it on a sandwich with some sliced ham and a piece of cheese, that way she could eat it on the way to school. After throwing on a light jacket and pulling her bag over her shoulders, she grabbed her sandwich and headed out the door into the brisk morning air.

The walk to school was nothing exceptional by normal standards. There was a chill in the air as the wind blew through the trees, just like there had been for the last few weeks. The same school children headed to the grade school, the same old man picking up his morning paper. But somehow all of it still felt different. There was a lightness and a sadness in her heart. The way she felt about Jax had her soaring and brought a smile to her face that had been missing for a long, long time. But Jax Teller was still Jax Teller…and Tara Knowles wasn't anything so exceptional that she thought she could change him. She wasn't especially pretty or especially fun. She didn't party or do drugs or anything exciting. How could she ever hope to keep his attention? Especially when there were so many other girls that were willing to do so much more for him… _But_, she thought to herself_, those stupid whores can never be able to take away what he had given her_. Perhaps it was small and fleeting, but it was still hers to lock away in her heart and keep forever.

As she rounded the final corner to school, she couldn't help but scan the parking lot for a motorcycle, but all she saw was the usual motley assortment of cars, trucks, and pedestrians. _Let it go, Tara_, she told herself, _Let it go_…

xxXxx

As she headed back to her locker, eyes to the ground, she tried stifling a yawn. Her first couple classes almost put her to sleep. Tara might be a bookworm but Monday mornings weren't easy for anyone. She put in her combination and started swapping out her books and binders. Green for purple…she grabbed an extra pen off the top shelf and slammed the locker shut.

"AAHH!" Tara screamed at the appearance of someone behind her locker door, "Oh my God! You scared me!"

Jax just laughed, "I didn't realize you were so jumpy!"

"Well when people just appear behind doors!" she laughed back.

"Hahaha, my bad, my bad! I was looking for you this morning, but didn't see you. Thought I might walk with you to English class."

"Oh really?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," he smiled cockily.

"Well I suppose that would be ok," she smiled back shyly.

"Good," he said reaching over and pulling her books out of her hands, "let's go."

Tara smiled to herself at his unexpected grand gesture and folded her now empty arms in front of her chest. They started walking down the hallway and Tara could feel all of the eyes on her. Their hatred was so thick she could taste the bitterness on her tongue. She didn't quite know how to feel about it, she'd never had so much attention on her in her entire life. She cast her eyes down to the checkered tiles to avoid their uncomfortable stares.

"Find something interesting down there?" Jax asked.

"Oh…uh..no," she stuttered embarrassingly.

"Not used to the stares?" Jax smiled knowingly.

"Uh, no," she laughed, "not really."

"They're just jealous…not every girl can make a Nirvana shirt look that good."

Tara turned to smirk at him in disbelief, only to catch him winking at her. The blood rushed to her cheeks faster than she'd thought possible.

"You're awfully cute when you blush," he leaned over to whisper as they walked.

_Oh my God! _She could feel her face starting to burn and knew it had to be as red as a tomato by now. She was sure he was enjoying himself at her embarrassment. They _had_ to almost be to class by now…

"So how was the rest of your weekend?" he continued.

"It was good…uneventful…" she smiled. It would be awfully hard to compare to her Friday and Saturday, she laughed inwardly.

"Did you have any issues with your old man?" he asked seriously.

"No..no…he was very apologetic yesterday."

"Good."

Tara could sense Jax's anger sitting just under the surface and found it a bit surprising. Perhaps she shouldn't have. No decent person would be ok with someone hitting their child but his concern as something she still wasn't quite used to. Then again, she wasn't really used to anyone's attention or concern so this was all new to her. She still had her eyes on the ground as they rounded the final corner, when all of a sudden she felt Jax throw his arm over her shoulder. Bewildered by the unexpected contact, she quickly looked up at him only to be caught in the hook of his elbow as he pulled her in and kissed her on the lips. Tara stopped in her tracks, her mind paralyzed but the surprise of the moment of Jax's soft lips and strong mouth muscles moving against her own. She couldn't help but kiss him back. All the memories from the weekend came flooding back. But it took only a moment before her senses reminded her she was in the middle of a high school hallway and she felt herself pulling away.

"Jax, wha..."

But as soon as she looked into his twinkling eyes, still so close to her face, the words caught in her throat and she found herself frozen and staring into the endless blue. Tara didn't even notice as he pulled her back into his kiss, until her eyes were closed and she felt herself pressing up against the lockers. What was going on? She shouldn't be doing this! _But_ _oh_…the way his mouth moved….his lips dancing so lightly but so firmly on hers …the smell of him creeping into her nose…his body pressing up against her…she couldn't think straight. She felt lost…falling….like Alice…falling down the rabbit hole…deeper and deeper…farther down the hole…But then there was a glimmer of light and she could feel Jax slowly pulling back, drawing her up out of the darkness. As she opened her eyes though and saw the hunger that lingered on his face and that she still felt within her body, she knew she was, in fact, still falling down the hole….and she had no idea where it stopped.

"Jax," she started breathlessly... She was looking at his face when her eyes shifted behind him to see David Hale walking by. Turning her head back with scrutiny, she asked, "Did you do that because of David?"

"Well, maybe at first…but no…that was definitely for me," he smiled naughtily.

Keeping his arm hooked around her neck, he lightly pulled her away from the lockers and led her down the hallway.

"C'mon, we don't wanna be late now, do we?" he smirked at her.

She blushed and smiled but kept her eyes on the ground. If she thought she was getting a lot of stares before, EVERYONE was watching her now. She wasn't just walking with Jax Teller and he wasn't just holding her books, but now he had his arm around her and had pinned her up against the lockers. Every girl probably was glaring at her with envy and hatred and every guy was probably noticing her for the first time ever, even though she'd grown up here her entire life. Part of her wanted to crawl up inside of herself and disappear…But as they walked down the hallway, she surprised herself by realizing that there was also a small part of her grinning inside that actually enjoyed it. She'd always known Jax was smooth with the ladies but she had never known him to get jealous, especially enough to back a girl into a locker just because a guy was walking by. The inner vixen he'd awoken in her this weekend was smiling devilishly inside. _Let them stare_, she thought, _because right now, this boy is mine_…. _Mine? Yeah…mine_. Tara slowly raised her eyes and for the first time, with Jax's arm wrapped around her, she wasn't afraid and boldly looked at the other kids around them, meeting their stares. Without even realizing it, she raised her right hand and took the hand he had dangling from her shoulder and twined his fingers in her own. Jax looked over at her with a surprised smile and she glanced back from the corner of her eye with a mischievous grin.

_What is this guy doing to me?_

xxXxx

As Tara walked to her locker at the end of the day, her head was still in the clouds and a permanent smile was plastered to her face. She hadn't seen Jax since English but the quick kiss he'd given her after class before heading off with Opie was still simmering on her lips. The glares were still coming from behind locker doors all down the hallway and she couldn't care less….she felt like she was floating, just drifting through her day and nothing could touch her. She filed her books and binders into her locker absentmindedly, her mind still lingering on being under Jax's arm, how safe she felt, confident….it was intoxicating… She was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't notice when David Hale walked up to her until she heard, "Hey Tara."

"Oh!" she turned around startled, "David, oh, hi."

"Did you have a good rest of the weekend?"

"Um, yeah, I did. It was a nice change to get out of the house for a bit."

"So you and Teller, huh?" he questioned, his blue eyes dancing with curiosity.

"Well, kind of... I mean…"

"What's it to you, Hale?" she heard from behind them.

As David turned, her view opened up to see Jax strutting down the hallway like a man on a mission… or a man about to kick somebody's ass. Either way, that wasn't a normal walk, she was pretty sure.

"Nothing, just making friendly conversation," David smiled.

Tara's eyes bounced between them. _What was it with these two_? David had always seemed perfectly cordial but any time he'd shown up the last few days, Jax puffed up like a rooster.

"Yeah, I'll bet." Jax said as he approached.

"No need for any hostility. I was just saying hi. I'll leave you two be. Have a good night, Tara. Jax," he nodded as he turned and walked away. Tara's eyes followed him down the hall a ways, still trying to process what had just happened. When she looked back at Jax he was still staring him down.

"Ummm…what was all that about?" she asked humorously. Jax finally looked back at her and she could still see a glimmer of something angry in his eyes.

"I cannot stand that guy," Jax said shaking his head and when he looked back up at her it was gone.

"Why?" she laughed, "He's always seemed nice enough to me."

"Him and his brother are a couple of pretentious fucks."

"Oh…well, then," she laughed.

"So what did you say to him?"

"What?"

"When he asked you about me, what did you say?"

"Oh…um….well… I didn't really know how to answer him," she stumbled out.

"And why's that?" he asked more genuinely.

"Well...I don't know…I mean, I really like you and everything but I've seen you around with plenty of other girls before. I just didn't know how serious you were about the whole thing…"

He smiled at her then and taking a step forward, he placed a hand on the lockers on either side of her and leaned in close. Tara's breath caught in her throat. This guy's confidence was overwhelming; she could feel herself melting under his gaze.

"Well how serious are you?" he pressed, "What do you want?"

He looked down at her with those piercing blue eyes and the butterflies were going wild in her stomach. _I can't just put myself out there like this right now, can I? Oh God, but I'm weak_! She had no experiences with boys or being cool or playing hard to get…Even if she did lie, a guy like Jax Teller would see right through her.

"Not anything more than a thousand other girls probably wanted from you…" she managed somewhat bravely.

"Yeah, but I'm not asking those thousand other girls, am I?" he grinned arrogantly.

It was a good thing she was up against the lockers because she felt her knees start to go weak.

"Tara," he laughed, releasing all the tension between them, "do you want a ride home?"

She looked back up and saw innocent Jax once more…and his smile was infectious. Looking around at the increasingly empty hallway, she contemplated her options…she did love her walks home this time of year but she also loved the way it felt riding on the back of his motorcycle…in the end, it was kind of a no-brainer.

"Sure. That'd be nice," she smiled shyly at him.

"Great. Now let's get out of here. If the teachers spot me after school they'll probably think I'm supposed to be in detention," he grinned.

Tara laughed, grabbed her jacket, and shut her locker. No homework for her tonight. Jax threw his arm over her shoulder again and it brought another smile to her face. They strolled out of the building like that and, once again, Tara saw the stares and the glares as they crossed the parking lot. She got a little extra satisfaction out of seeing Cindy McAllister's jaw drop ever so slightly. _Stupid bitch_…Tara thought, then laughed at her sudden possessiveness. As they approached his bike, she noticed that there were two helmets hanging from the handlebars.

As if he read her mind, Jax said, "I was kind of hoping you'd say yes…"

Tara's grin spread the width of her face at his obvious pre-planning and her giddiness got the best of her as she suddenly turned and tipped up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. The blush rushed to her face in embarrassment but without missing a beat she reached for one of the helmets and started to strap it on. Jax just smiled and removed his arm from her shoulder to put on his own. The sun was shining brilliantly and a couple of fluffy white clouds speckled the sky. It was a perfect day out for a walk…_but an even better day out for a ride_, she thought to herself. As Jax adjusted himself onto his seat, Tara swung her leg over the back and sat down behind him. Apparently not feeling like she was close enough, Jax reached behind himself with both arms to grab her sides and pull her forward and Tara suddenly felt herself pressed right up against him. She could feel her pulse throbbing between her thighs. Jax flipped the ignition and brought the engine to life. Revving it up two or three times for good measure, she felt him kick up the stand and start to back it out of the stall.

"Hold on," he called back to her.

She reached forward to wrap her arms around his waist and breathed in the smell of his cologne as she pressed her chest up against his back, making her eyelids flutter; it was as if it sang to her senses. She felt him shift the bike into drive and as she glanced across the parking lot, she saw Cindy talking to her friends and staring back at them…so as Jax started to pull away, she drew up her left hand to give her a small wave and smiled wickedly to herself. _Mine_…she thought to herself, _he's mine_… His Harley pulled out of the parking lot and accelerated as they headed down the street. The wind blew through her hair and the sun shined in her face. She saw the shadows of the leaves dance across the pavement and Tara didn't know if she'd ever felt so at peace. She knew the trip home was a short one, even by foot, so the drive would be over in no time. She tightened her grip around his waist and rested her head on his back….Her eyes took in the familiar settings and turns but her mind was miles away, dreaming of a world where Jackson Teller really was hers….

Her driveway came into view long before she was ready to see it…

Jax downshifted the bike and walked it up the rest of the way to the house and cut the engine. Tara loosened her grip but wasn't ready to let go yet. She didn't know if she'd ever be ready for that…

"Still awake back there?" Jax asked.

"Yeah," Tara said quietly, slowly pulling herself upright. She reluctantly dropped her hands from his waist to unfasten her helmet and stood up.

She pulled her leg up and drew it back over the seat until she was standing on the left side of his bike.

"Thanks for the ride, Jax," she smiled, handing him back his helmet. Jax stood up and reached out to take the helmet from her but grabbed her wrist instead. A confused look spread across her face when he pulled her in towards him. As she drew closer, he let go of her wrist and his hands grabbed her hips and continued to pull her until she was right in front of him. Tara had to look up to see his face and the small smile that was playing on his lips. Without a word, he bent down ever so slightly and kissed her. Softly. His mouth moved gently against hers and she felt herself slipping away again to the dream world where this gorgeous rebel boy that made her feel so confident and alive was hers. How sweet it was… so easy to see…They stayed like that one moment and then another…she wanted it to last forever. Before she knew it, she felt him pulling back. She let her eyes stay closed just one more moment longer, trying to savor that kiss.

"Tara…" Jax said in his roguish way . She slowly opened her eyes to see Jax smiling sweetly at her, "I have to go to work now… but do you want a ride to school in the morning?"

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise… "Really?"

"Yeah," he smiled with an upward nod.

She couldn't speak for a moment but the growing smile on her face probably spoke volumes, "That'd be great."

"Yeah?" he smirked. "Pick you up at 7:30?"

"Sure," she smiled broadly.

"I'll see you later, ok?"

"Yeah, see you soon."

Jax reached up and grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her again. This time stronger and she felt herself go weak. He pulled back, still holding her face and nodded firmly at her. "Tomorrow?" he smiled.

"Tomorrow," she repeated.

He let go of her then and sat down on his bike. She took a few steps back, still smiling. Jax roared the engine to life and looked up at her as he walked it back down the drive. Tara managed a small wave and an even bigger smile which Jax returned tenfold, his eyes sparkling. He shifted into drive and took off down the road. She watched him until he was out of sight and felt her heart swell within her chest. Tara never let her hopes get too high because they always ended in disaster, but maybe, _just maybe_, this time she would give it a shot. Maybe all of the bad things that had happened to her in her young life were so that she could have this one piece of happiness…_ Maybe there was a chance_, she thought to herself, _maybe it doesn't have to be a dream_…

_Maybe, just maybe_, she smiled, turning to go into the house.

….And farther and farther down the rabbit hole she fell….Alice didn't have anything on her….


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

The crisp morning air felt refreshing as it whipped across his face and through his hair. The school week had flown by and Jax knew that was probably at least partly due to his new routine. He down shifted his bike and started treading his feet to the ground. As he rolled up to the curb, he saw Tara come running down her drive to meet him, her long brown hair bouncing with every step and a big smile plastered across her face just for him. It had quickly become his favorite way to start the morning.

"Morning, Sunshine," he smirked as she reached his bike.

"Good morning," she said playfully and planted a quick kiss on his cheek before throwing her leg over the back of his bike. She'd been riding with him less than a week but she'd already become a pro at the "grab-and-dash" pickup maneuver. He couldn't wait til they got to use it for something more exciting than going to school. Tara slid her arms easily around his waist and propped her chin on his shoulder, her helmet already in place. Jax didn't even bother taking it back when he dropped her off anymore. Easing away from the curb, he let the engine idle until they got down the block. Neither one of them knew if Tara's dad had figured out she was getting rides to school from a guy yet, let alone on a Harley, and neither of them really wanted to find out. Opie had covered for Jax over the weekend, just like he knew he would, so his mom hadn't found out he'd been running around with a girl yet either. But he'd been ducking out of the house early every morning instead of always running late so it was only a matter of time before she figured it out. There wasn't much that got past Gemma Teller, especially when it came to him.

Jax felt Tara's arms squeeze a little tighter around his waist when he shifted into gear and it brought a smile to his face. It was Friday again and he'd made sure to pull extra hours all week so he wouldn't have to work tonight; so long as he had his twenty hours for the week no one asked too many questions. If he had told them he'd planned to go to a football game tonight, they would have laughed and given him shit about it for hours, asking which piece of ass had roped him into that. Although it was true he was going because of a girl, he didn't want to confess that it had been his idea to go, and didn't like the idea of them talking about Tara like a piece of ass. It was a new sensation to feel so protective over a girl, but turns out he didn't really mind that either. Over the course of the last few days, this girl that was so quiet and shy to the rest of the world had opened up and revealed herself to have a witty mind and a sharp tongue, like an oyster with a pearl inside. She was sarcastic, sassy, and always had a smile or a smirk just for him. Behind all the walls she built up around her was a hidden treasure and Jax had no intention of sharing it. Although he wouldn't mind showing her off a bit, he smiled to himself.

They pulled into the school parking lot with plenty of time to spare. After winding into one of the many open stalls along the edge of the lot, Jax killed the engine and Tara hopped off the back. He stood up and swung his leg over the seat, pulling off his helmet as he watched Tara do the same. They still had about a good fifteen minutes before first bell. Setting their helmets down on the seat, Jax reached for Tara's hand and started to walk off towards the side of the school.

"Jax, where are we going?" Tara asked.

"Not far," he smiled back at her.

He led her into the shadows and around the side of the building where the air was noticeably cooler. After rounding another corner, Jax stole a glance behind him. Seeing that they were out of view from the front of the building, he turned around suddenly and backed Tara up against the bricks, running his fingers up into her hair and holding her in place as he pressed his body up against hers. The last few days, he had tried to keep all his kisses complacent but there was something in the air today, something in the way she smiled, the way she slid so smoothly into his life… Her hazel eyes were wide as she looked up at him with a coy smile playing on her lips. Every time he had kissed her it left him wanting more and he couldn't hold back anymore. He bent down and took her mouth with his. His lips pushed and pulled against hers languidly and she didn't resist, easing into the smooth, rhythmic motion. Jax felt himself smile as he kissed her. There was something about her that awoke something in him that felt like it had been sleeping for a very long time. For the first time in a long time, Jax felt genuinely happy. It was still early so far as getting to know each other went, but they had talked enough for him to know that they shared a connection that almost no one else in this town would be able to relate to. And if they had that from within a week of talking, who knew where else it might lead? He didn't know how long they stood there kissing in the shadows of the building but when his body started to want more, he forced himself to pull away.

He opened his eyes to look into hers, they were sparkling mischievously. The massive grin on her face was infectious and Jax couldn't help himself from smiling just as wide. They stood there looking at each other like idiots for another moment or two, his hands still in her hair, before Tara reached up suddenly to grab his face and jerked it down to hers. He met her excitement vigorously and couldn't help the smile through their kisses. Jax grabbed fistfuls of her hair, loving how soft it felt in his hands, and plunged himself into her lips. Jax started to lose himself in the smell of her shampoo and the way her tongue felt sliding against his, the motion of her hands running through his hair and down his neck. He started pressing his body harder against hers….

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG_!

They both startled for an instant then laughingly pressed their foreheads against each other trying to catch their breath.

"Ya know, the older I get, the more I hate that thing," Jax said.

Tara smiled back and started to push herself up away from the brick wall, "C'mon…we should probably get going."

But Jax didn't budge and instead pressed her back against the wall and nuzzled her neck, "Do we have to?"

There wasn't a whole lot that Jax Teller was good at but he definitely knew his way around a woman; not that he had been too proud of that fact over the last week. At first it had been exciting knowing that she was all new territory, but the more he got to know Tara and the more attracted to her he grew, he had actually started to feel a bit ashamed of just _how_ experienced he was… He didn't mind slowing it down for her but it was definitely a struggle sometimes after what had happened. Everything about her drove him crazy but he didn't want her to think all of the rumors about him were true… He knew they were mostly true but definitely blown out of proportion. Jax wasn't half the whore the town would have him made out to be. Sure he made out with a lot of girls but that was usually it with the exception for about a handful of them. Tara giggled as Jax tickled her neck with his scruff and it only made him want her more. He had started doing it as a tease but the sound of her laughter stirred his blood and soon he started kissing her neck and up behind her ears. When he heard her moan his name, it was too much for him and he pressed his body up against hers, pushing her tight against the wall and his mouth shot to hers.

"Mmm…Jax…" she tried talking through his kisses, "we need to ….mmm….get to…class."

But she never stopped moving her lips with his, so he knew that she didn't really want to stop.

"Mmm…I don't…think so…" he managed back.

"Jax!" she laughed, "We're…. gonna be….late!"

"It's ok….I'd much rather be here."

She kissed him a moment longer before playfully slapping him in the chest with both hands and pushing him away.

"C'mon you! We've gotta go!"

Her smile lit up her face and made her eyes shine. Jax found himself mesmerized by them, green and brown and sparkling like the sun glimmering off the leaves.

"C'mon!" she repeated grabbing his hand and sprinting off towards the front of the building. Jax just laughed and ran along with her.

xxXxx

The school day passed slowly, except for English class, where he'd finally convinced Tara to sit in the back with him and Opie, and lunch which always flew by no matter what day it was. Tara and Opie were both the quiet type so they hadn't said much to each other but when she wasn't looking, Opie had shot him a grin and the unspoken look of approval. Jax had filled him in on the more basic details earlier in the week at the shop so he wouldn't think he was blowing him off if he wasn't around much. Opie knew how it went, turns out he was kind of pursuing a girl of his own at the moment, so he just laughed and there were no hard feelings. Tara wasn't anything like the girls Opie normally saw him with so he'd been a bit curious at that but after having a heart to heart the other night after work, Jax explained that there _was_ something different about her; he didn't just want to hit it and quit it, that he really felt a connection with her. He probably didn't even need to say that much, Opie understood. That's how it had always been between them. Today had been the first time Opie had ever really interacted with her and it seemed like so far so good.

Jax didn't care about too many people's opinions but Harry "Opie" Winston had been his best friend since they were born. Both of their dads had been First Nine, two of the original founding members of the Sons of Anarchy. His dad and Opie's dad Piney were best friends since they were in Vietnam together and once they got home they decided to keep their brotherhood alive. Jax's dad was gone now but one day when he was older, the club would be passed to him, it was his legacy, and Opie would be right there by his side. His entire life all he'd ever wanted was a kutte and a Harley with his best friend by his side. He had two of the three and was just waiting on the other. And it might still be early yet, but Tara had him wondering if maybe he might want a little bit more too…

Charming High split its lunch hour into two sections so all the students didn't flood the cafeteria at lunch. Jax and Opie both had the early lunch, Tara had the later one. After this morning, he had decided he was going to skip his next class and surprise her. Besides, it was way too nice of a day out to be stuck in a classroom when he could be hanging out with a sexy mysterious brunette on the back of his bike…he didn't know if it was even possible to get Tara Knowles to play hookie but he was certainly going to try…Until then, he and Opie shared a cigarette behind the dumpsters.

"So this girl's got you falling pretty hard, huh?" his friend's deep voice asked, although it hadn't come off much like a question.

"Yeah…I can't seem to get her off my mind," Jax took a drag off the cigarette and passed it back.

"Did you hit it already?"

"Dude, Ope!"

"What?" he chuckled before taking a drag himself.

"It's not like that…" Jax tried dodging the question but Opie knew him better.

"So you didn't?" he asked, looking at him with a cocked eyebrow and a curious smirk.

Jax bit his lip and Opie smiled, he had him cornered and he knew it.

"Yeah, we did…but…" Opie's booming laughter interrupted him. "It's not like that!" Jax insisted.

"I'll bet!" Opie laughed, his eyes lighting up from his broad smile.

"C'mon now, man!" Jax pleaded, "I really like this girl."

"Yeah, I can tell," Opie answered, "I've never seen you this crazy over a girl AFTER you already got it."

He tried not to laugh at that but he knew it was true, "It wasn't like that though. _She's_ not like that…it just sorta…happened. I dunno. Neither of us were looking for it or anything…Anyway, it was only the once and we've just been taking it slow."

"Taking. It. Slow?" Opie said deliberately. There was a moment of silence before he burst out laughing again, "Since when does Jackson Teller take things slow?"

Jax ripped the cigarette out of Opie's hands and took the last hit, "You're an asshole, man."

Opie just kept laughing and looked at the cashed out butt, "So are you."

They stared at each other with smirks on their faces and tried not to laugh…and failed miserably. They were still laughing when they heard the first bell ring, signifying the end of the early lunch. They had five minutes to get back to class.

"C'mon, I'll walk back inside with you," Jax offered, "I gotta try to find Tara anyway."

"Don't worry about it brotha. I'm thinking I'm gonna skip outta here too," Opie smiled. "You still plan on going to the football game tonight?"

"We'll see, but yeah, I think so. Stick it to Hale one more time to drive it home that he can't just have whatever the fuck he wants. Stupid, rich boy, prick."

"AND getting defensive? You DO have it bad…" he laughed again, "Well give me a call if you want, maybe I'll tag along. I still sorta miss it sometimes. Who knows, maybe I'll ask that freshman girl if she wants to go…score a few brownie points."

"You probably could…freshman girls eat up going to that shit," Jax laughed.

They rounded the front of the building as the second bell rang. Now they were officially late for class…not that it mattered. Their fifth hour teachers were used to them not showing up. Jax's math teacher usually gave him shit on the days he _did_ show up so he never felt too bad about missing it. He was going to have to hurry back inside if he wanted to catch Tara though.

"I'll catch you later, brother," Opie said giving him a farewell hug.

"What time do those things start anyway?" Jax asked, thumping Opie's back before pulling away.

"Seven," he laughed, "I'll be at TM til six…maybe I'll see you there."

"Later, man."

"Later."

Jax turned and jogged toward the front entryway taking the steps two at a time before ducking into the main hall. Tara's locker was a straight shot only about thirty feet or so down the hall. The second bell that let him know he was supposed to be in class was the same bell that released the late lunch group. The halls were crowded with students so no one was going to notice that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He kept his eyes ahead of him looking for that familiar dark hair he was growing so fond of. Jax navigated between the current of teens flooding toward the doorway like a salmon going upstream but it only took a moment or two before the crowd cleared out and he spotted what he'd been looking for. There was almost no one else in the hall by this point as he crept up on her, hoping silently she wouldn't turn around and see him. But the locker door was blocking her face so he snuck around to the opposite side of the hall. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he came up directly behind her. She ran her fingers through her hair. Leaning forward so he was just behind her ear, he whispered, "You look smokin' hot when you do that…"

Tara shrieked and damn near jumped out of her skin at the first sound of his voice and spun around faster than he thought possible to nail him in the arm with a rather large history book.

"OW!" he laughed, "What was that for?"

"Oh my God, JAX! You're scared the hell out of me!" She wound back the book and hit him again but more playfully this time. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Maybe, but I thought you might like some company for lunch."

"You're going to walk me to the cafeteria?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I thought maybe we could go somewhere else for lunch, maybe somewhere not on campus."

"Oh did you, now?" she raised a perfectly shaped brow at him.

"Yeah," he smiled cockily. Jax grabbed the textbook, threw it in her locker, and reached for her hand, "Let's go."

xxXxx

Jax had known that as soon as he got Tara on the back of his bike she would be up for anything and he was right. It hadn't been anywhere near as hard as he'd expected to get her to skip out of the rest of the school day, although she did attempt to put on a little bit of a protest for good measure. Jax had taken her out to lunch at a local burger place but when Tara had reminded them they should probably be getting back, he drove towards the city limits sign instead. He couldn't see her face at the time but he was pretty sure by the shift of her body that she had balked. But that's what good girls did…they acted like doing something wrong was bad but deep down they loved the rush of being naughty just like everyone else. He took her back to Stockton where they caught another movie and walked around some of the bigger department stores that Charming would never have. Tara refused to buy anything but when Jax wanted to stop into a Harley store, he bought an extra pair of riding glasses and handed them to her, she smiled shyly and thanked him.

They spent most of their time talking…about everything really, school, homework, friends (or lack thereof), hobbies, interests…turned out she was really interested in reading and was tentatively looking into taking some CNA classes at the local tech school. Apparently, their high school had a program that would let her leave for part of the day to take the classes and she'd still get credit for them while becoming a certified nursing assistant. He momentarily wished he was a little smarter and into that sort of thing. They weren't paying attention half the time to the stores they were in or what they were looking at, at least he wasn't. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. It wasn't until they found a nearby park that Jax actually started to kind of take in the scenery. They found a spot underneath a tree and watched the children chase each other and run around the playground. As they were talking, he could see Tara's eyes start to get far away and he wondered if she was thinking about her parents or about having her own children someday. She'd probably make an excellent mom with her caring nature and attention to detail, but he kept that thought to himself.

When the sun started to get a bit heavy in the west, Jax figured it was probably about time to start heading back to Charming. He had no idea what time it was since he never wore a watch. His mom constantly threatened to staple one to his wrist. They hopped on his bike and made their way out of town. As the wind blew across his face and through his hair, he felt the weight of Tara's body relaxing against his back, her head on his shoulder and arms around his waist, he knew that this was something he wanted. All week he'd been trying to figure out if it was just an infatuation, some type of crush or curiosity, but after spending the day with her again he knew that it wasn't a feeling that was going to pass anytime soon. She was smart and sarcastic and beautiful and mysterious. She was more mature than any 16 year old girl had the right to be and they shared a bond that no one else would understand. She made him feel like he didn't need all the girls in the world (even if he _could_ get them), that maybe he just needed the right one. And there was something else, something he couldn't place his finger on, something that told him that although they were very different that maybe she was exactly what he needed. He absentmindedly let go of his right handlebar and placed his hand over Tara's on his waist and intertwined his fingers with hers. She made his heart race every time they were together and when they weren't, all he could think about was seeing her again. Jax had never really done the dating thing but he knew there was no way he could risk her getting away.

They pulled into Charming and Jax stopped at a red light.

"Hey Jax?" Tara asked, "The parking lot is probably going to be really full at the school. Do you want to park your bike at my house and we can walk? It might be just as fast as trying to find a spot there."

"Yeah, good idea," he said and decided to turn right instead of go straight. He navigated the streets til he made it to her house but instead of pulling in the drive he parked it on the side of the road two doors down. He killed the engine and started pulling his helmet off.

"Why did you park all the way down here?" she asked.

"Just in case your dad comes home, I don't know how he'd feel about having a motorcycle in front of his house and his daughter missing," Jax laughed, "Besides, maybe if he sees it a few doors down he won't think twice about hearing it every morning."

Tara smiled at that and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Jax felt the blood race to the spot where her lips had just been and was silently grateful it was getting dark out. As Jax watched her throw her hair up into a ponytail, he couldn't help but notice the way her chest rose when her arms were above her head or how sharp her jawline was when her hair was back. She was so slender but had curves in all the right places. It made him ache and she wasn't even doing anything. He shook his head to try and get those thoughts out of his head. It was going to be a really long night if he kept thinking like that.

"Are you going to want a different jacket or a sweatshirt at all?" Jax asked. The thin jacket she was wearing now wasn't going to do much to fight off the cold once it got dark.

"That'd probably be a good idea. Do you want something else too?"

Jax cocked an eyebrow, "You got an extra men's sweatshirt lying around?"

Tara just laughed, "Well I do have a father, if that counts…but as it so happens, I still have one of yours too."

"Well, shit… now I feel like an ass," he laughed, "Yeah, that'd be great."

"Ok, I'll be right back."

Tara darted off to her house and Jax leaned forward on his handlebars. _What am I doing?_ he thought, "_Going to a football game? For what?_ But it was a stupid question because he knew why, he had known as soon as he'd asked her to go last week. He shook his head. Jax never went to school functions, especially with a girl…Without even realizing it, he had decided he was going to lay claim to her it in front of the whole school. Shit, the whole town would probably be there besides the Sons. From the moment he first touched her hand he hadn't thought of anyone else. One weekend with her and he was getting up early to give her rides to school and being late to work because he never wanted to say goodbye when he dropped her off.

Jax leaned back and pulled his left leg over the seat so he was sitting with both legs on the same side of his bike and waited for Tara. It was only a minute or two later when she came out the front door wearing a large grey and burgundy hooded sweatshirt and carrying a bundle he assumed to be another sweatshirt in her arms. She smiled broadly and held it out to him with both hands. She looked adorable standing there like that. Jax cocked his head to the side with a smile and reached out to grab her arms and pull her forward between his long legs. She looked down to him and pulled one hand away to stroke the stubble on the side of his face; the sensation sent his blood racing.

"Tara," he said suddenly, "I don't think I can share you…"

"Share me?" she asked curiously.

"I can't stop thinking about you and the thought of anyone else trying to be with you drives me crazy. I want you to myself."

"Soo? What are you saying? Are you..?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Her hand froze on the side of his face and eyes went wide, "You want me to be …like…your girlfriend? Like, officially?"

"Yeah," Jax smiled wrapping his hands around her waist.

"Are you sure? Because I won't share you either, Jax…If you want to be with me you can only be with me. No girls on the side or anything…just me."

"Yeah, I know."

"Is that going to be enough for you?" she asked quite seriously.

"Yeah," he smiled again, "I think so."

She watched him for a moment, chewing her lip, and fighting back a smile… "You're sure?"

He looked intently into her beautiful hazel eyes and tried to convey every ounce of earnestness he had in him, "Yes, Tara. I am."

A smile spread across her face like a wildfire and she caught Jax off guard when she threw her arms around him and slammed a kiss on his lips. He had to catch himself from falling off the other side of the Harley! He couldn't help the smile that broke out from underneath her excited lips. As their mouths vigorously attacked each other, Jax stood up off his bike, his lips never leaving hers, and wrapped his arms around her to pull her tight against his body. He kissed her harder and she met him with just as much fervor. He walked her backwards until he had her pressed against a tree. They instinctually started to grind against each other and Tara leaned up on her tip toes to adjust her hip height to meet him. The blood thundered through his body and knowing she was officially _his_ spiked his excitement through the roof. What he wouldn't give to just take her right here right now. He'd never had sex on his bike before…it didn't really seem safe _but oh if he'd been somewhere more private_…he might have tried to give it a go…

Tara was fire under his fingertips and he couldn't get enough of her. He didn't know what he was doing or where this was going to go but as her tongue danced around his and she braced herself against his body, something deep down inside of him, something he didn't understand, knew he was going to consume her and she was going to consume him…that whatever this was, it was going to change _everything_…and there was no going back now…


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Tara couldn't wipe the smile off her face as they strolled down the dark sidewalk, her slender fingers laced between his. She stole a glance to her left to see Jax smiling back at her. She giggled as the blush sped to her cheeks. She felt him stop suddenly and tug her arm so she spun in front of him. He immediately wrapped her up in his arms and planted another large passionate kiss on her lips. The short bristly hairs of his five o'clock shadow brushed roughly on her face but she'd grown to love the feeling. Tara wrapped her arms around his waist and let herself enjoy the moment. If she'd ever been this happy it hadn't been for a very long time. His lips were so soft and the smell of his cologne in her nostrils sent waves of lust rolling through her body. She felt her body go lax in his arms. They stayed like that for a minute…maybe two…before their kiss turned into a series of shorter pecks. When they finally pulled away from each other, Tara was so relaxed and content she might have been half asleep, she certainly felt as though she was dreaming. She looked up at Jax with a sleepy smile and said, "You know if we keep stopping every ten feet we're never going to make it to the game…"

"Oh, I think I'd get over it," he smirked back at her.

She smiled back up at him and with a sudden burst of energy, planted a quick kiss on his lips and pulled away, grabbing his hand again and pulling him as she went. The sun was starting to set in the west which meant it was probably close to kickoff. She didn't know that she'd ever tell Jax because he seemed so indifferent to it, but she actually used to really like football. It was one of those things that she and her father used to do together, but it had been ages. The only reason she never went to the games was because she didn't want to go alone. So when Jax had asked her, she had been excited for more than one reason.

"C'mon! It's going to start soon!" she turned to smile back at him. His blue eyes were sparkling and his grin stretched ear to ear. He was such a beautiful man, Tara couldn't believe he was actually hers. _How could I have gotten so lucky?_ She smiled. Tara felt so excited she was practically skipping. She didn't even know it was possible to be this happy! She started walking faster and tugged at his arm.

"C'mon, slow poke!" she laughed.

Jax took three quick steps and had her wrapped his arms again, picking her up and backing her up into a tree… again, "God, you're beautiful when you're excited…"

Tara looked up and saw everything she was feeling reflected in his eyes. _The excitement, the happiness, the adventure_…she felt herself disappearing in the bottomless blue. He smiled and she smiled back and before she knew it, her arms were wrapped around his neck and their lips were locked once again. They'd traveled maybe four blocks and this was about the fifth time this had happened, but she didn't care. All she cared about was how happy she was and the way Jax felt in her arms. _Maybe sixteen wasn't so bad after all_… Jax pulled back with his head cocked to the side and a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

"You _really_ want to go to this game? Because I'm sure we could always find something else to do," he said mischievously.

"You don't want to go anymore?" Tara asked.

Jax just laughed, "Haha, yeah, I still want to go. I'm just enjoying our little pit stops."

"I'm sure you are," she grinned up knowingly at him.

"Well c'mon then," he said in defeat, "the sooner we get there and I can show you off, the sooner I can make out with you under the bleachers."

A shocked expression swiftly crossed her face. _Wait, what?_ _What did he mean show her off_? Jax turned around and caught the look on her face.

"Oh, I'm just kidding!" he laughed, "…kinda…"

He faced forward and led her down the street by the hand. Tara was still confused but the moment had passed and they kept on their way down the darkening sidewalk. She could see the stadium lights in the distance and the sound of the band warming up echoed through the air across the quiet neighborhood. A slow smile spread across her face because for the first time in her high school life she finally felt like she thought she was supposed to: smiling, excited, a boy she was crazy about holding her hand, headed to a football game on a Friday night. _So this is what it's like_, she thought to herself, _this is what it's like to feel young_. She skipped ahead a step to catch up with Jax's naturally quick pace so she was strolling by his side. Jax turned and smiled down at her and Tara smiled right back. _I can get used to this_, she thought happily.

The rest of the walk was uneventful. Somehow they managed to keep to walking and talked about miscellaneous parts of their week. But the closer they got to the school, the more sounds she heard. The band, the players counting out their warm-ups, the crowd, the cheerleaders…Tara felt the excitement building up in her chest. When they turned the final corner she could see the school in the distance and it took her breath away. With a modest population of around 15,000 people, Charming was by no means a big city but when her eyes took in the crowd filtering in and around the stadium, Tara was sure that almost everyone in town must have been there. In the sixteen years that she had lived there, she had never seen so many people in the town congregated in one area before. It was a rush! Unable to contain her excitement, she looked over to the handsome man on her left, only to see a strangely tense look on his face. Her smile disappeared.

"Jax?" Tara said quietly. It took a moment before he turned and looked at her, almost as though he was in a daze. "Jax, are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said with a quick smile, "golden. You ready for this?"

Confused by the sudden shift in his demeanor but still brimming with excitement, she nodded her head resolutely and her smile reappeared instantly.

"Alright, then let's do this," he said stepping off the curb to cross the street.

They made their way into the parking lot and weaved between the rows of cars and pickup trucks. Tara was glad she'd suggested they should walk. It was so crowded! Even though Jax probably could have found a small spot to park his bike, there was probably also a really high chance someone would accidently hit it. They walked almost the entire distance to the stadium in silence when finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"So do you even like football, like at all?" she teased.

"No, not really," he said still looking forward. "When I was younger I used to go watch the practices though and wait for Opie to get done… Oh shit…Opie! Aww, fuck! Tara, we gotta go this way quick…"

Jax turned suddenly and started leading her towards the front of the school.

"What's going on, Jax?"

"Aw nothing major. I just told Opie I'd give him a call if I decided to come and I forgot. He doesn't play anymore but sometimes he misses it. Since we don't go to these things, I think he saw it as a good it as a good excuse…. Oh Jesus," Jax stopped in his tracks, "I'm sorry, I didn't even ask. Is that ok if he comes?"

"Of course!" she said, "That's not a problem. I'm sorry, I didn't know or I'd of tried to remind you."

"Haha! I don't even tell you he's going to come and you apologize for not reminding me. You're something else," Jax laughed, stopping midstep to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Don't be so apologetic," he said looking her in the eyes, "I screw up a lot. Don't be afraid to put me in my place."

He smiled at her again, his blue eyes twinkling in the dark. Tara smiled back._ So first he thinks I'm sweet and then he tells me to toughen up… this man is just confusing_, she laughed inwardly. They continued on their way up to the school when Tara caught sight of what he was headed towards. There was a payphone just inside the overhang by the entryway. He let go of her hand as they reached the steps and with his long legs he took them easily two at a time. Tara always took every step, just at a really quick pace. When she caught up to him, he already had the receiver of the phone cradled against his shoulder and was counting out change in his hand.

"Hey babe, you got a quarter?"

"Babe?" Tara repeated unbelievably, stopping and raising her eyebrows at him, "Is that what you call all the girls you hang around with?" 

Jax just laughed, dropping the phone carelessly and letting it bounce and dangle at the end of its metal tether.

"Well you're mine now, right?" he asked and took a few seductive steps towards her. "I'll never call another woman 'babe' again," he said overly sweetly, his words practically dripping with syrup. Still, when he smiled and leaned forward to kiss her she couldn't help but smile back and return his affection. He winked at her as he pulled away. Tara bit her lip as she dug her hands into her pockets to check for change. Never dropping her eyes from his, her fingers felt around in her pockets…_Chapstick, some lint_…and then she felt it. Drawing her left hand out, she slowly held up the quarter between their faces. His smile slowly creeped wider on his face, showing off his dimples. He never broke his gaze as he took the quarter from her hand and leaned in to leave another lingering kiss on her lips. _How am I ever going to say no to this man? I'm practically helpless to that smile! Oh well, _she thought smiling to herself as he turned and walked back to the payphone_, I suppose there are worse things in this world… _

She retreated a few paces and sat down on the top step. She could hear Jax plunking the change into the coin slot and she stared off into the distance. The sun had already fallen behind the treeline and it had grown quite dark, which only made the stadium lights all the brighter in the nighttime sky. The pep band was playing some upbeat tune and even though she had thought it wasn't possible for more people to show up, somehow she had been wrong. Tara propped her elbows up on her knees and put her chin in her hands. It was a beautiful night. She felt so… so…_normal_. And it felt nice. To not be the girl standing in the shadows or the girl whose daddy was a drunk…to just be Tara. She silently thanked God or whatever being it was that ran the universe that she'd remembered to set out leftovers for her father when Jax had parked his bike. She'd been setting out food for him all week, in fact, as she still didn't really have the heart to sit with him since last week's incident. The bruise on her face had mostly faded away but even the faintest of bruises showed up clear as day on her incredibly fair skin. She saw the anger behind Jax's eyes whenever he noticed it and it embarrassed her so…because even though she knew she shouldn't, she still sort of blamed herself for the whole thing. If only she'd been more careful…but that still didn't excuse what he did…Tara shook her head, trying to get the negative thoughts out. She didn't want to think about things like that right now. _Or ever_.

She watched as students with their friends, parents, or boyfriends and girlfriends filtered from the parking lot to the football field and knew that it was probably getting close to kickoff. The yells from the crowd were getting louder and she could hear the student section stomping their feet on the metal bleachers to make them roar. She was so distracted by the scene that she didn't even notice Jax come up behind her, until he sat next to her on the step and threw his arm over her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," she said quietly and flashed a soft smile.

"Something on your mind?"

"Aw nothing," she looked up into his pensive blue eyes, "I'm really glad to be here with you tonight, Jax."

He smiled back at her, slow, sweet, and genuine, "I'm really glad to be here with you too."

They gazed into each others' eyes, enjoying the quiet moment between them for a few seconds before Jax leaned in and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips. It was the briefest one they'd had all day but it struck a chord in her heart and she knew in that instant that it was also her favorite. Their mouths pulled apart but their foreheads gently bumped together. The conflicting feelings of happiness and heartache weighed in her chest but no matter how heavy they were it felt so good knowing she wasn't alone anymore.

"Should we go check out this game?" Jax asked without moving.

Tara nodded, her forehead still pressed against him, and smiled. And from the bottom corner of her eye, she saw him smile back. Jax stood up quickly and offered her his hand. She gladly took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon, let's go," he smirked, "or all the good spots under the bleachers are gonna be taken."

Tara couldn't stop the laughter that broke out of her as they walked towards the stadium hand in hand.

xxXxx

An hour later and Tara still couldn't get the ticket girls face out of her head; the way she stared at him and said, 'hey Jax' with that stupid coy little look on her face. Tara had wanted to reach across the wooden counter and slap her. Jax being Jax just smiled back and paid for their tickets. She silently had wondered if the ticket girl had been someone Jax had previously had "affiliations" with or if she was just one of the scores of girls that wanted to be. She debated for all of about thirty seconds before she realized that it didn't matter and she really didn't want to know. He was with her now, so long as he didn't turn out to be a cheater, she guessed it didn't actually matter who he'd been with in the past. As much as she may have been curious to know _who_ or _how many_, she also knew it'd be better for her own sanity if she didn't. Growing up in a such a way that she had to earn and fight to protect every scrap of what she had, she'd become very possessive of the things that were hers. And just from spending the last few days with him, Tara knew that it would be no different with Jax, in fact, it would probably be much worse. It wasn't jealousy… _maybe insecurity_? But he was hers and she was not afraid to make sure these airheaded, easy-A types got put in their place if they went too far. But the truth was she was getting worked up over nothing. Jax hadn't spared her a second glance and had his arm around Tara ever since they walked through the front gates. They'd been making out under the bleachers five minutes later.

She took a deep breath and looked out over the field. It was a beautiful night, the moon was shining bright, the air was crisp… a perfect night for a football game. Charming High was up by seven points and it was only a few minutes until halftime. When they had decided to actually _watch_ the game, Jax had insisted on standing on the fence line that went around the field, away from the bleachers and most everyone else by the end zone closest to the school. The view wasn't that great but at least they weren't shoulder to shoulder with anyone either. Tara was leaning against the chain link fence and he was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his head resting against her hair. He probably would have fallen asleep if Tara didn't jerk her body at every exciting play. Her secret was out pretty quickly but he just laughed and kissed the top of her head when she muttered about a crap call or missed penalties.

The band started warming up for their halftime routine as the seconds dwindled down. Nothing important was going to happen in that time so she spun around one hundred and eighty degrees until she was facing Jax again. She looked up at his stunning blue eyes and movie star smile and felt as though her heart might explode. It was much too soon for that…. but that's the difference between logic and emotions…emotions don't have to make sense.

"So you having a good time Miss Knowles?" Jax asked playfully.

"Oh yes. A very good time," she smiled up at him. She wanted to keep it coy but she knew she probably had a huge grin on her face. Jax tightened his arms around her and pulled her unresisting body closer, pressing it against his own and leaning down to kiss her, never closing his eyes until the moment before their lips met. It only lasted a few seconds but that's all it took for her blood to turn to fire in her veins. As their faces pulled away from each other, Tara opened her eyes to catch Jax smiling wickedly at something behind her. Her heart shot to her throat as her first reaction was to assume he was staring at one of the cheerleaders, but as she whipped her head around in concern, the cheerleaders were nowhere in sight. Instead, she saw the football team running their way, towards the school, helmets in hand. A quizzical look spread across her face. But she was only confused for a moment until, towards the front of the group, she caught a glimpse of David Hale. And she suddenly realized why Jax had wanted to stand where he did. _Strategy_.

But before she could turn around and tell him not to do anything juvenile, David spotted them and as he drew nearer, she felt Jax pull her close again and call out, "Hey David! Great game!" and nuzzled himself against her face and into her neck. Despite her best effort to keep a straight face out of embarrassment at his blatant 'pissing contest' of a move, the short stubbly hairs on his chin did their trick again, tickling the skin on her neck and she couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled out of her throat as David ran by, shaking his head in some sort of unbelievable and irritated way.

"Jackson Teller!" she turned around and scolded him laughingly, trying vehemently hard to look serious, "What was all that about?!"

Jax just kept smiling his ridiculously naughty and arousing grin and said, "Do you think he got the point, this time?"

Before Tara even had the chance to answer, he jerked her close again and buried his face into her neck, kissing and biting and rolling his tongue around the soft area below her jawline. Tara's head rolled back and she couldn't help but laugh again. Had she ever laughed so much in her entire life as she did when she was with him? He lit up her dark dreary world with mischief and laughter and awoke the playful rebellious girl inside of her and she knew in that moment that she never wanted to go back to the way she was again.

When Jax finally relented, he pulled away from her neck but immediately closed in on her face. Stopping just an inch shy of her mouth, Tara had already closed her eyes in anticipation. Hovering there for a moment, she opened them again to see Jax's eyes, so close to her own, twinkling mischievously.

"What?" she smiled up at him.

"You wanna get outta here?" he grinned back, cocking his head slightly to his left. Tara didn't know entirely what Jax meant by that but she knew it probably didn't involve sitting around talking. Making him wait just a moment longer, the smile on her face inched even wider. She bit down on her lower lip and slowly nodded her head.

"_That's my girl_…" his husky voice replied, planting a strong quick kiss on her lips before grabbing her hand and starting off towards the gates. Tara laughed as she was dragged behind him, skipping to keep pace with his long strides. _This night keeps getting better and better_! They passed through the gate and a small patch of grass before they started across the parking lot, leaving the stadium lights and its assortment of noises behind. The only noise that filtered through the air as they disappeared into the shadows was the sounds of hurried footsteps and laughter. 

xxXxx

The rest of the night was a blur. They grabbed some drinks from the local gas station and Tara had laughed out loud when Jax showed her the assortment of snacks he'd hidden in his pockets when she hadn't been looking. They went to the local park and lay on the grass eating their stolen chips and candy and watching for shooting stars. They laughed when they both saw one at the same time and Tara foolishly wished that they could be together forever. _A girl could dream, couldn't she_? After that, they strolled around downtown and Jax took her down a back alley to show her where he and Opie had graffiti-ed a wall when they were twelve. The city had tried scrubbing it off but you could still see the faded black spray paint. It made her smile to think of a little Jax sneaking around being naughty with a little Opie, who was so tall now! Tara had lost all track of time before walking past the bank sign that flashed the temperature and that it was now 11:15pm, well past town curfew for minors. She and Jax had noticed it at the same time and when she shot him a disappointed look, he'd known it was time to start getting back. They stuck to side roads that didn't have as many streetlights and they strolled down the sidewalk holding hands, swinging them back and forth between them.

As they reached her street, their laughter faded away to hushed smiles. Everything was quiet. When they finally approached her house, she could see that her dad's black cutlass still wasn't in the driveway. Tara silently weighed out the pros and cons of the random thought that crossed her mind. _No, that wasn't a good idea_, she chided herself and laughed inwardly, _even if it was a lovely thought_. Jax chose to walk her to her door even though it meant passing his bike along the way. They stopped on her doorstep and Tara turned to look at his handsome face again.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," she smiled.

"So did I," he said and he leaned in to give her one more kiss, soft and sweet.

"Have a good night, Jax…"

"You too, Tara," he smiled as he backed away.

Tara pushed open the front door and stood there watching him longingly as he walked away. He'd just reached the end of the driveway when she was suddenly overcome by her emotions…

"Hey Jax!" she called out. His head spun so fast his hair fanned out behind him. Tara had to wait a second or two for the butterflies in her stomach to let her breathe. _Am I really doing this_?

"Do you…do you want to come _inside_?"

He stood there expressionless for a moment before she saw the subtle change in his eyes and a megawatt grin break out across his face. He crossed the distance between them again in a quick few steps and when they were again standing face to face he asked her, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Tara said softly. They stood there watching each other for another moment or two, saying nothing. Jax reached for her hand and she let him take it. Silently, she led him through the dark open doorway before turning, with a smile on her face, to quietly shut it behind them.


End file.
